Sammarone, Bozanich Indicted in Marchionda Probe
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Former Mayor Charles Sammarone and former city finance director David Bozanich were indicted today on public corruption charges in connection with the charges filed last October against Poland businessman Dominic Marchionda.
The indictments, handed down today by a Mahoning County grand jury, were announced by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, Ohio Auditor Dave Yost and Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains.
Sammarone, 75, was indicted on one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, nine counts of bribery, three counts of tampering with records and one count of falsification.
Bozanich, 61, was charged with one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, two counts of aggravated theft, 15 counts of bribery and one count of obstructing justice.
The indictment also serves as a superseding indictment for Marchionda and his affiliated businesses. It includes new charges of theft pertaining to insurance funds for the Legal Arts building downtown and money laundering for stolen insurance funds related to the building.
Sammarone served as mayor from 2011 to 2013. The indictment alleges that he solicited and received recurring cash payments from a vendor in return for steering projects to the company.
Bozanich served as city finance director until December 2017. He is accused of receiving benefits from several individuals and in return agreeing to assist in securing public funding from the city for economic development projects, including Marchionda’s projects.
“The people of Youngstown deserve to have confidence in their elected officials, but the indictments announced today show a repeated pattern of bribery and corrupt activity,” said DeWine.
Added Yost, “These indictments should make clear to the people of the Mahoning Valley that our investigators and forensic auditors will not relent until we’ve taken down the last crook standing. The abuses we’ve uncovered are maddening, especially for an area of our state that has been challenged economically. Our work here is not complete.”
The investigation is being led by the auditor’s Public Integrity Assurance Team with the assistance of the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office. The attorney general’s office is serving as a special assistant prosecutor with Mahoning County.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
