Plea agreement considered for former Lynchburg treasurer
Lead Summary
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
A former elected official may enter into a plea agreement this week on charges of theft, stemming from a investigation through the Auditor's Office of the State of Ohio.
Angelique M. Balon, former treasurer for the village of Lynchburg, was indicted by a grand jury in Highland County Common Pleas Court on Sept. 17, on three charges of theft in office, two of which are felonies of the third degree; and one of which is a felony of the fourth degree.
Balon appeared in Highland County Common Pleas Court Wednesday before Judge Rocky Coss for a pretrial hearing. Coss asked Balon's attorney David Pence if discovery had been completed and if he would be prepared for trial, which had been slated for Monday, Dec. 6.
Pence said that there were approximately four boxes of documents from the state auditor's office as part of the discovery that he had not had the opportunity to get through.
However, Pence said that after the discussing the matter with Highland County Prosecutor Jim Grandey, he felt that they could reach "a proposed solution to the case."
Assistant Highland County Prosecutor David Henry represented the state in court on Wednesday.
Pence asked that the court set another hearing by the end of the week.
Coss scheduled a hearing for Dec. 3 at 11 a.m.
Balon is also facing a separate civil suit filed by the village of Lynchburg in which the village is seeking to recover more than $25,000.
The third-degree charges alleged that Balon "Recklessly commit(ted) a theft offense ... and the property or services involved is owned by the state, another state, the United States, a county, a municipal corporation, a township or a political subdivision ... the value of said property being greater than $5,000."
On the fourth-degree felony charge, the allegations are that the theft was in an amount greater than $500 but less than $5,000.
The civil suit filed by the village alleges that "Between Jan. 1, 2005 and Jan. 12, 2009, (Balon) did fail or refuse to pay over or produce public money when (Balon) was the person charged with the collection, receipt, transfer, disbursement or safekeeping of such money, belonging to (the village of Lynchburg) or other public money, or to account to or make settlement with a legal authority of the official accounts of such person, constituting prima-facie evidence of embezzlement of public funds."
The village has asked the court that it be "granted judgment in the amount more than $25,000 for conversion of money and judgment to recover the state auditor and investigatory costs, together with interest, reasonable attorney fees and the costs of this action."
Village solicitor Fred Beery said that Balon resigned from her elected position as treasurer in January 2009.
A report filed by the state auditor's office for the time period of Jan. 1, 2006 through Dec. 31, 2007 showed 12 findings of material noncompliance, weakness and deficiency, including: "The village's elected officials were not properly compensated during the audit period. The village council sets the salaries for the mayor and clerk respectively. These salaries should be paid in equal payments over a 12-month period. However, in both years of the audit neither the mayor nor the clerk was paid the amount established by council. The mayor and village clerk were overpaid in 2006 by $721 and $1,058, respectively, and under-paid in 2007 by $2,235 and $1,528, respectively. We also noticed that the clerk had paid herself her entire salary within the first six months of the year for 2006."
In response, the village now has controls to pay elected officials in 12 equal installments, according to the audit report.
Current Lynchburg Mayor Jeremy Shaffer, who was elected in 2007 and did not take office until 2008, said that he found "irregularities and unaccounted for monies" in 2009.
"This case was filed on behalf of the taxpayers of Lynchburg, so that we might be reimbursed for our great losses. I will continue to fight corrupt acts that lead to waste, fraud and abuses in our local government. I believe that a day of reckoning for the taxpayers of Lynchburg may soon be upon us," Shaffer said.
Beery said that the village, "Council has been anxious about it every since it was discovered by Mayor Shaffer and he put it in the hands of the (Lynchburg Chief of Police Brandon Wooten). The chief filed the complaint to help the auditor get discovery materials, bank records. Those charges were dismissed while they concluded the investigation."
One of the holdups in the investigation, according to Beery, was that the village's bank "Had transferred our records to India where they were stored and it took some doing for the state to get them. They had requested my assistance in obtaining court orders to get their hands on the records. The bulk of the delay was that. The state really did work hard on it and spent a lot of money, as you can see from our suit. It has been a while and they are finally satisfied with turning it over to the county (prosecutor's office). It's a big case, volume-wise, and it covers many years and is very complicated."
Beery said the village had to hold off on filing the civil suit until the criminal investigation was completed.
A former public official may enter into a plea agreement this week on charges of theft, stemming from a investigation through the Auditor's Office of the State of Ohio.
Angelique M. Balon, former treasurer for the village of Lynchburg, was indicted by a grand jury in Highland County Common Pleas Court on Sept. 17, on three charges of theft in office, two of which are felonies of the third degree; and one of which is a felony of the fourth degree.
Balon appeared in Highland County Common Pleas Court Wednesday before Judge Rocky Coss for a pretrial hearing. Coss asked Balon's attorney David Pence if discovery had been completed and if he would be prepared for trial, which had been slated for Monday, Dec. 6.
Pence said that there were approximately four boxes of documents from the state auditor's office as part of the discovery that he had not had the opportunity to get through.
However, Pence said that after the discussing the matter with Highland County Prosecutor Jim Grandey, he felt that they could reach "a proposed solution to the case."
Assistant Highland County Prosecutor David Henry represented the state in court on Wednesday.
Pence asked that the court set another hearing by the end of the week.
Coss scheduled a hearing for Dec. 3 at 11 a.m.
Balon is also facing a separate civil suit filed by the village of Lynchburg in which the village is seeking to recover more than $25,000.
The third-degree charges alleged that Balon "Recklessly commit(ted) a theft offense ... and the property or services involved is owned by the state, another state, the United States, a county, a municipal corporation, a township or a political subdivision ... the value of said property being greater than $5,000."
On the fourth-degree felony charge, the allegations are that the theft was in an amount greater than $500 but less than $5,000.
The civil suit filed by the village alleges that "Between Jan. 1, 2005 and Jan. 12, 2009, (Balon) did fail or refuse to pay over or produce public money when (Balon) was the person charged with the collection, receipt, transfer, disbursement or safekeeping of such money, belonging to (the village of Lynchburg) or other public money, or to account to or make settlement with a legal authority of the official accounts of such person, constituting prima-facie evidence of embezzlement of public funds."
The village has asked the court that it be "granted judgment in the amount more than $25,000 for conversion of money and judgment to recover the state auditor and investigatory costs, together with interest, reasonable attorney fees and the costs of this action."
Village solicitor Fred Beery said that Balon resigned from her elected position as treasurer in January 2009.
A report filed by the state auditor's office for the time period of Jan. 1, 2006 through Dec. 31, 2007 showed 12 findings of material noncompliance, weakness and deficiency, including: "The village's elected officials were not properly compensated during the audit period. The village council sets the salaries for the mayor and clerk respectively. These salaries should be paid in equal payments over a 12-month period. However, in both years of the audit neither the mayor nor the clerk was paid the amount established by council. The mayor and village clerk were overpaid in 2006 by $721 and $1,058, respectively, and under-paid in 2007 by $2,235 and $1,528, respectively. We also noticed that the clerk had paid herself her entire salary within the first six months of the year for 2006."
In response, the village now has controls to pay elected officials in 12 equal installments, according to the audit report.
Current Lynchburg Mayor Jeremy Shaffer, who was elected in 2007 and did not take office until 2008, said that he found "irregularities and unaccounted for monies" in 2009.
"This case was filed on behalf of the taxpayers of Lynchburg, so that we might be reimbursed for our great losses. I will continue to fight corrupt acts that lead to waste, fraud and abuses in our local government. I believe that a day of reckoning for the taxpayers of Lynchburg may soon be upon us," Shaffer said.
Beery said that the village, "Council has been anxious about it every since it was discovered by Mayor Shaffer and he put it in the hands of the (Lynchburg Chief of Police Brandon Wooten). The chief filed the complaint to help the auditor get discovery materials, bank records. Those charges were dismissed while they concluded the investigation."
One of the holdups in the investigation, according to Beery, was that the village's bank "Had transferred our records to India where they were stored and it took some doing for the state to get them. They had requested my assistance in obtaining court orders to get their hands on the records. The bulk of the delay was that. The state really did work hard on it and spent a lot of money, as you can see from our suit. It has been a while and they are finally satisfied with turning it over to the county (prosecutor's office). It's a big case, volume-wise, and it covers many years and is very complicated."
Beery said the village had to hold off on filing the civil suit until the criminal investigation was completed.
[[In-content Ad]]