It took the federal government two tries to get a conviction against a man who paid to have his own video poker machines burned.

Whether there will be a third trial is now up to a judge, following a hearing on the matter yesterday.

Jesse James Risha, 54, of Uniontown, was convicted of aiding and abetting an attempted arson in July 2004 during his second trial; his first trial, in February of that year, ended in a mistrial. Prosecutors said Mr. Risha, owner of James Vending in Uniontown, wanted the G.C. Murphy Building in Clairton burned because he was storing some 200 of his video game machines there and planned to collect more than $300,000 in insurance before declaring bankruptcy.

Mr. Risha appealed his conviction, asking for a new trial. He argued that the government withheld information that the key witness against him -- Frank Caito, who was paid to start the blaze in 1998 -- expected consideration in an unrelated state gun case for cooperating.

That information should have been available at trial so that the defense could impeach Frank Caito's credibility, said Mr. Risha's attorney, Charles Porter.

In November 2004, Chief U.S. District Judge Donetta W. Ambrose granted Mr. Risha a new trial, but the U.S. attorney's office appealed to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

That court, in its April decision, said that it was "possible, indeed very likely, that a new trial should be granted." But it ordered the case to be returned to Judge Ambrose so she could determine if the prosecutors in federal court knew what was happening with Mr. Caito's case in state court.

"No evidence has been advanced that the federal prosecutors in Risha's case had actual knowledge of Caito's expectations or of a pending plea agreement," the judges of the Third Circuit wrote.

At a hearing yesterday, Shaun Sweeney, the assistant U.S. attorney who tried Mr. Risha, testified that he specifically told Mr. Caito that his cooperation in the federal case would have no bearing on his state case.

"I was not going to go to bat for him, and he should not expect a break," Mr. Sweeney said he told him. "I don't think it could have been any more clear to Mr. Caito."

But when Mr. Caito was finally sentenced in state court in September 2004 -- after several continuances that spanned the length of Mr. Risha's case -- he received probation, instead of a possible seven to 14 years in prison.

That sentence was based on a recommendation made by Bradley Hellein, an assistant state attorney general, who said during the sentencing hearing that Mr. Caito "provided very valuable assistance" to the state and the federal governments.

Also testifying yesterday was Paul Marraway, an investigator with the state attorney general's office. It was his office that first got the information that Mr. Caito had been hired to start the fire, and Mr. Marraway worked with federal officials throughout Mr. Risha's trials.

Mr. Marraway testified that he used Mr. Caito as an informant in other cases, as well, and that he received the break in state court for that work. Mr. Marraway conceded, though, that none of the information he provided ever led to any other state prosecutions.

"He had tried to cooperate with us," Mr. Marraway said.

Both sides now have several weeks to submit additional filings to the court, and a ruling will follow.