Sciortino Charged in New 25-Count Indictment

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Former Mahoning County Auditor Michael Sciortino was indicted on 25 additional counts for activity prosecutors say is separate from the charges he faces in the Oakhill Renaissance Place case.

Sciortino, 44, of Austintown, was indicted on four counts of theft in office, felonies of the fifth degree, and 21 counts of unauthorized use of property – computer or communications property, felonies of the fifth degree. The indictment alleges that the activity took place between October 2005 and August 2012.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains announced the indictment this afternoon. The new indictments are a joint prosecution between DeWine’s and Gains’ offices.

Issued by a Mahoning County grand jury, the indictment alleges that Sciortino used his public computers, as county auditor, “to conduct political campaign activities and campaign fundraising over several election cycles, as well as conduct his private professional law practice,” according to a news release issued by DeWine’s office.

“Investigators became suspicious of Sciortino’s computer use when in September 2014, during the execution of a search warrant, Sciortino stated that he wanted to keep a public computer overnight, offering to bring it to law enforcement the next day,” the release continued.

The news release specifies that the criminal conduct in the new indictment is “a separate and distinct allegation of criminal activity” from the prosecution in Cuyahoga County Sciortino faces with Youngstown Mayor John McNally, in his former capacity as a county commissioner, and attorney Martin Yavorcik. They were charged in a 73-count indictment in May 2014 for allegedly conspiring to block the county’s purchase of the former Southside Medical Center building.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.