YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas has scheduled a trial date of Nov. 9, 2026, to hear a complaint the city filed last year against its former finance director and a Poland businessman.
Visiting Judge W. Wyatt McKay on Thursday granted a case management order listing a timetable of court deadlines leading up to the trial date in the city’s lawsuit against former finance director David Bozanich, businessman Dominc Marchionda, and two of his companies.
The city filed a complaint Nov. 21 against Bozanich, Marchionda, and two of Marchionda’s companies – U.S. Campus Suites and Erie Terminal Place LLC – seeking recovery of $834,608. The lawsuit stems from a 2018 public corruption case that ended in plea agreements nearly five years ago.
Attorneys representing Bozanich, Marchionda, and his two companies have filed court documents requesting the lawsuit be dismissed because the statute of limitations has expired.
Marchionda has also filed a counterclaim against the city requesting damages of $1 million if the case is not dismissed. Marchionda’s attorney has also asked the court for a summary judgment.
McKay has not ruled on those motions. On Thursday, the judge said he would take Marchionda’s motion for summary judgment “under advisement,” but would not rule in the matter until the court is able to review full discovery related to the case.
In a rare occurrence, all Mahoning County Common Pleas judges recused themselves from the case. Judge McKay, a retired Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge, was then appointed.
The city is seeking $614,608 – plus costs and interest beginning Sept. 23, 2021 – from Marchionda, U.S. Campus Suites and Bozanich related to the Flats at Wick project, citing a public interest report issued by Ohio Auditor of State Keith Faber that details findings for recovery, according to court papers.
The city also seeks another $220,000, plus costs and interest, from Erie Terminal Place and Marchionda, citing the state auditor’s finding for recovery. The amount reflects a supplemental grant awarded the project from the city’s water and wastewater funds that was unlawfully paid, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit has roots in a corruption case that centered on the misappropriation of water and wastewater grant money intended for several of Marchionda’s development projects, including the Flats at Wick and redevelopment of the Erie Terminal building downtown.
In 2009, Marchionda and his company, U.S. Campus Suites, were in the process of building the Flats at Wick, a housing complex on the corner of Madison Avenue and Elm Street for students attending Youngstown State University. The city supported the project through a $1.2 million water and wastewater grant.
Marchionda received the grant and used that money to purchase a fire station at the corner from the city for $1 million, and the money was deposited in the city’s general fund upon receipt. Marchionda kept the additional $200,000 for the project.
The city also spent another $3,220 in closing costs to complete the transaction, the complaint says.
According to the city’s lawsuit, the use of the wastewater grant to purchase the fire station was a “calculated scheme, facilitated by U.S. Campus Suites and orchestrated by Dominic Marchionda and David Bozanich, to illegally transfer money from the city’s water fund and wastewater fund to the city’s general fund” in violation of state law.
However, City Council approved enabling legislation that allowed the Board of Control to move forward with the transactions.
Shortly after, the city’s Board of Control – at that time made up of Mayor Jay Williams, Law Director Iris Guglucello and Bozanich – approved and executed the measure.
“This fact is so significant that it bears repeating,” Bozanich’s court response said. “The Youngstown City Council and the Youngstown City Board of Control voted on and approved the very transactions that form the basis of the city’s claims against Mr. Bozanich.”
Moreover, the defendant’s answer stated that the city “suffered no economic harm or loss as a result of Mr. Bozanich’s actions, and the city should not be wasting taxpayer dollars pursuing what it knows to be frivolous and time-barred claims.”
In August 2018, Bozanich, former Mayor Charles Sammarone and Marchionda were indicted on 101 counts of public corruption offenses. Sammarone eventually pleaded to two counts of tampering with records and received five years’ probation.
In August 2020, Bozanich – who served as city finance director from 1993 to 2017 – pleaded guilty to one count each of records tampering and bribery, both felonies, and two misdemeanor charges of unlawful compensation of a public official. Bozanich served nearly one year in prison.
That same day, Marchionda pleaded guilty to four counts of tampering with records, all felonies, for creating false invoices to secure city grant money he said would be used for the Erie Terminal redevelopment project. Instead, the funds were used to pay invoices for the Flats at Wick development. He received five years’ probation.