Charmed

Policy's roots lie in Youngstown. Like many of the town's famous and infamous natives', they go back to a low-lying neighborhood on the city's east side known as Smokey Hollow. Shopping mall magnates Eddie DeBartolo Sr. and William Cafaro were raised there, as were Policy and several of the town's better-known mobsters.

In the postwar years, the neighborhood was anchored by Italian immigrants and their descendants, most of whom worked in thriving steel mills. Today many of the houses are gone, and the few that remain are generally run-down and in need of repair.

Policy's parents operated a drugstore and soda fountain, but both of them died suddenly before Policy, an only child, was 10 years old. He moved in with his mother's parents, the Tisones, and soon was working at the tavern that provided the family's income.

He followed a well-worn path out of the neighborhood, attending Ursuline High School (where he made the football team but never played a down), followed by Youngstown State University. From there he made a significant jump to Georgetown University Law School in Washington, D.C., from which he graduated in 1966.

By his early 20s, friends say, Policy already had a reputation as a popular, stylish charmer. Youngstown lawyer Dino Prassinos relates an instructive story from that period.

The financially strapped Policy and several friends had just finished taking the Ohio bar exam in Columbus. The group, which included several would-be lawyers who came from wealthy families, stopped in a bar to celebrate.

"Whereas normally they'd maybe order a couple bottles of expensive wine, they ordered beer in order to not make Carmen feel uncomfortable," Prassinos says. "Whereupon Carmen says, 'What's the matter with you guys? We just took the bar,' and orders the most expensive cognac in the house. It shows the class of the guy."

It also shows the champagne tastes of a man who, throughout his life, has gravitated to and ingratiated himself with the wealthiest and most powerful players around.

Power Players
Policy started his legal career in Youngstown at a small firm where he did bankruptcy work, followed by a stint in the Mahoning County prosecutor's office. Like most talented and ambitious attorneys, he wanted to be his own boss. But when the time came to start his own firm, Policy didn't partner with just anyone. He teamed up with the most politically connected young attorney in town, Ed Flask Jr.

Flask, currently under indictment on federal charges of bribery, corruption, and conflict of interest from his time as director of the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District, is the son of a former mayor of Youngstown. He was a powerful and natural complement to Policy.

"Eddie [Flask] grew up rubbing elbows and hobnobbing with all the other politicians in the town and the county and the state," says Prassinos, who worked at Flask & Policy for 12 years. "Then you have Carmen Policy, who also knew a lot of people. Plus, you have to add in the personality. He's the kind of guy who makes friends with everybody."

Policy does have a knack for putting people at ease, from high-powered CEOs to low-level office drones. Prior to being named one of the best criminal defense attorneys in the country in 1987, Policy was named 1975's Boss of the Year by the Mahoning County Legal Secretaries Association.

One of the people Policy became fast friends with was Edward DeBartolo Jr., more commonly known as "Eddie Junior." When DeBartolo and Policy met in 1968, DeBartolo's father, Edward DeBartolo Sr. -- "Mister D" to friends -- was busy buying up tracts of land across the country and building huge shopping malls, creating a real estate empire worth billions.

Whereas DeBartolo Sr. was a dedicated genius who worked nearly up to his death in 1994, his son was brash and hot-tempered. In terms of intellect and work ethic, Policy was more like a son to the old man than Eddie Junior was.

"My opinion is that [Policy] really shepherded Eddie through much of Eddie's career, because I don't know that the guy had much direction," says Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Carmen Marino, one of Policy's legal contemporaries. "If his dad hadn't had a football team, I don't know what the heck he would do. You're talking about a multibillion-dollar enterprise, and this guy is getting into fights at the country club."

Despite the younger DeBartolo's shortcomings, there was a fraternal tie between him and Policy. They both shared a taste for the high life -- Policy would later build an impressive wine collection, while DeBartolo liked to brag he hadn't flown commercial in 15 years.

"I think there was a real bond between Carmen and Eddie Junior," says Don Hanni, who ran the Mahoning County Democratic Party from 1978 until 1994. "There was just a very, very strong bond of friendship between the two, almost to the point of brotherly love."

Hanni adds euphemistically: "They fucked the same whores and drank the same whiskey. They really were like brothers."