[ back ]
High rollers shake down public
(by Dave Lange - August 11, 2010)
COUNTY LINE, BY DAVE LANGE
High rollers shake down public
Judge H.F. Inderlied, who presided over the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas for 23 years, retired in 2004. Like many government retirees, he's still working for the public.
During his last year on the public payroll in Geauga County, Judge Inderlied presided over the case of former Chester Township Clerk Michael Spellman, sentencing him to 10 years in prison for the theft of nearly $4.3 million from local taxpayers. Some people think the ex-clerk got off too easy.
The judge also ordered Mr. Spellman to pay the money back. Likely story. The Chester thief was back in the Geauga County Courthouse in Chardon recently to formally claim ownership to items from his deceased mother's estate, ranging from a diamond wedding ring to 80 silver dollars and a 1917 Russian ruble. They will be auctioned to help pay off his debt. Whoopee!
At about the same time, Judge Inderlied was working in another courthouse, this one in Cleveland. He was appointed to handle the case against former Cuyahoga County Sheriff Gerald McFaul, who pleaded guilty to two theft-in-office felonies and was sentenced to one year under house arrest. He was facing 10 years in prison, but the retired judge expressed sympathy for the 76-year-old's declining health. Boohoo.
Judge Inderlied also fined Mr. McFaul $21,000, on top of the $131,000 in restitution that he has agreed to pay -- which may be a fraction of the dirty money he collected during his 42 years in public office. The lawyer for the crooked ex-sheriff wants to pay it off from what's left in his campaign fund, much of which was raised by deputies while they were supposed to be working on the public's dime.
And now the retired judge from Geauga County is off to a courthouse in Canton, where he has been appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court to work for the public on a case involving the theft of at least $2.46 million from the Stark County Treasurer's Office. The man who pleaded guilty to that crime, Vincent J. Frustaci, former chief deputy treasurer, has said he stole the public's money to pay off personal gambling debts.
Although a state audit and FBI investigation found no criminality on the part of Stark County Treasurer Gary Zeigler, Stark County Commissioners are trying to force him out of office. After all, he was responsible for hiring the guilty deputy treasurer, placing him in a position of trust and failing to provide adequate oversight. The elected treasurer has argued that his removal from office would be a violation of his constitutional rights. Judge Inderlied was called to Canton to resolve that dispute.
Since the man who gambled away Stark County taxpayers' money won't be paying them back, the County Commissioners also filed a lawsuit against the treasurer, Mr. Zeigler, to hold him personally liable for the missing money.
Nobody seems to be looking for the taxpayers' missing money, though, in the places where it actually went. That would be the gambling interests who took it from Mr. Frustaci.
While Chester Township and Cuyahoga and Stark counties just want their money back, the State of Ohio is gambling that the casinos scheduled to open in the next couple years in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo will pay enough taxes to bail out its sinking treasury. Easy come, easy go.
[ back ]
