YOUNGSTOWN — A jury found Alex C. Bugno, 31, guilty Friday of 14 counts of compelling prostitution involving boys 16 and 17 years old in 2014, and one count of pandering obscenities for making a sex video.

The jury found late Friday that Bugno engaged in sexual conduct with three boys at two Bugno Towing locations in the city, and made a video showing he and a young male engaged in a sex act.

Two of Bugno’s accusers testified they and Bugno engaged in the conduct many times from February 2014 to June 2014 because Bugno paid them between $200 and $500 each time.

A third male named in Bugno’s indictment did not testify and did not cooperate with prosecutors. One of the compelling-prostitution charges involved him, and prosecutors said he also is the boy shown in the video, which investigators recovered during searches of the two Bugno facilities and Bugno’s home in July 2014.

Bugno, of Clingan Road in Poland, could get more than 10 years in prison when Judge John Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court sentences him later. A sentencing date has not been set.

Bugno, who co-owned the towing company with his father, did not take the stand during the trial , but his attorneys called his father to testify, as well as several

company employees, men who lived at the tow yards and a woman who is related to Bugno by marriage.

Closing arguments Friday by defense attorney Lynn Maro focused on inconsistencies in the stories of the two accusers, who are now in their early 20s.

Assistant Prosecutor Steve Yacovone acknowledged that one of the accusers “got a little mixed up on the witness stand,” saying, “though (he) had his issues, he was telling the truth.” Yacovone said the video showed exactly the type of activity the two accusers described in their testimony.

“Those boys were abused, and that abuse is corroborated by a video of” the other boy, Yacovone said. “This was a case of a predator taking advantage of boys in his neighborhood.”

Yacovone said Maro’s remarks included suggestions as to why she thought the two accusers were not telling the truth — “but what she didn’t talk a lot about is the evidence.”

He said the testimony regarding how busy the tow yards were 24 hours per day wasn’t relevant because Alex Bugno was an owner and would have known when workers would have been absent.

“These sexual assaults occurred when nobody was around,” Yacovone said.

He asked jurors whether they think boys 16 and 17 would make up that type of story it if were not true.

“It was humiliating. It was embarrassing. They had nothing to gain by coming here and telling you their story,” he said.

erunyan@tribtoday.com