The reputation of the Mafia was they did not bother honest officials.

I grew up with the belief that the Mafia would never even come around me because I'm

not going to break the law.

It never occurred to me that the Mafia would put a contract on me.

For 25 years, Paul Gaines has been the prosecuting attorney in Mahonin County.

It's a job he's held on to through elections, regime changes, and even death threats.

The people of Youngstown keep voting for Paul Gaines because once upon a time he was something

of an anomaly here, an honest public official who proved it in one of the hardest ways imaginable.

Gaines's story begins in the early 70s when he became a beat cop in the Youngstown Police Department.

I wanted to be a cop because cops helped people. That was my motivation.

That wasn't everyone's motivation in the police department at that time,

and it didn't take long for Gaines to figure that out.

I would start out my shift at midnight, and the first thing I would do is I would go

to the Market Street. I wouldn't tag all of the cars that were legally parked,

but the ones that were actually creating traffic hazards in my opinion, I would start tagging them.

And I remember getting called in by one of the captains telling me,

do not put tickets on the cars at this certain location.

I mean, I knew the borrowers. I knew that they were tied to organized crime.

I mean, that's just the way it was.

Gaines got put on to B-turn, which meant working the graveyard shift in a patrol car.

By this time, rumors were rampant. That was the bad turn.

I remember working with another cop who was one of the decent guys,

...