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By Lou Grieco
| Tuesday, January 6, 2009, 05:40 PM
DAYTON — Michael Perdue, one of two men charged in the August 2007 double homicide at Covault’s Market, pleaded guilty Tuesday, Jan. 6 to multiple charges, including two counts of murder.
Perdue, 21, appeared before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Gregory Singer. Perdue’s trial was to begin Monday, Jan. 12.
Perdue pleaded guilty to all of the counts in his indictment, including the murder charges, plus two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of kidnapping and one count of tampering with evidence.
“Mike deeply regrets that two lives were lost,” said assistant Montgomery County public defender Michael Pentecost. “He just wanted to put the matter behind him. He also didn’t want to relive the circumstances or the experience.”
The charges stem from the Aug. 21, 2007, shooting deaths of owner Roger Covault and employee Robert Harris inside Covault’s neighborhood grocery store on Wayne Avenue.
Perdue was not the shooter, according to Montgomery County prosecutors. His alleged accomplice, Brandon Phillips, is schedule to go on trial Feb. 2. If convicted, Phillips could face the death penalty.
Perdue faces a maximum sentence of 78 years to life, according to Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. Perdue will be sentenced Jan. 27.
Assistant county prosecutors David Franceschelli and Tracey Tangeman said that prosecutors made no agreements in exchange for Perdue’s guilty pleas.
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By Lou Grieco
| Tuesday, January 6, 2009, 05:00 PM
DAYTON — A former bookkeeper for Chemineer, Inc. was sentenced to six months in federal prison Tuesday, Jan. 6, by U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Rose.
Janice Day, 59, of Trotwood, pleaded guilty in June to a single count of embezzlement.
Day was working for Chemineer in March 2006 when she used her position to obtain and improperly access an American Express corporate credit card account issued to the company, according to the statement of facts filed with Day’s plea.
Between March 2006 and Sept. 2007, she used the card to purchase about $100,000 in personal items for herself and her family, including airline tickets, clothing and furniture. At the end of each billing cycle, Day would fraudulently transfer company funds to pay off the credit card.
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By Lou Grieco
| Wednesday, December 24, 2008, 03:59 PM
DAYTON — Two Trotwood women accused of using their positions at an area hospital for an identity theft scheme have been indicted on multiple felony charges.
According to the indictment handed down Tuesday, Dec. 23, Linda McDermott, 41, is charged with 11 counts of money laundering and one count of identity theft. Lisa Kidd is charged with 19 counts of money laundering and one count of identity theft.
The two, who were employees of Samaritan North Health Center, would scan newspaper obituaries, then use their access to patient records to determine if the recently deceased people were ever patients at Good Samaritan Hospital, said Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias H. Heck, Jr.
When they found former patients’ records, they would use the personal information to apply for small loans through online websites in the names of the deceased. The defendants would then open bank accounts using various names and transfer funds through different accounts before withdrawing the money through an ATM, Heck said.
“These defendants used their access to private, personal information in order to use the names of recently deceased citizens to benefit themselves financially,” Heck said. “The grief and the pain of the families of the deceased was added to by this despicable behavior.”
If convicted, the defendants could face five years incarceration for every money laundering count, which are all third-degree felonies. Kidd’s identity theft count is also a third-degree felony. McDermott’s identity theft count is a fourth-degree felony, punishable by up to 18 months in prison.
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By Lou Grieco
| Wednesday, December 24, 2008, 10:52 AM
DAYTON — A 27-year-old Trotwood man has been indicted on murder and arson charges in connection with a fatal fire at the Club Ivy bar.
James D. Williams III was indicted Tuesday, Dec. 23, on three counts of aggravated arson, three counts of murder and two counts of possession of criminal tools.
The Aug. 26 fire at the club, 3509 N. Main St., claimed the life of Robert C. Fabia, 50.
“This defendant purposely set the building on fire and ultimately took the life of another person,” said Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias H. Heck, Jr. “Senseless killings, such as this, simply will not be tolerated in our community.”
According to Heck, Williams poured gasoline on the building before setting it on fire.
Firefighters were called to the bar at 1:56 a.m. They found Fabia, who lived at 115 W. Monument Ave., Dayton, in the kitchen area. The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office ruled his death was the result of smoke inhalation.
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By Lou Grieco
| Friday, December 12, 2008, 10:55 AM
COLUMBUS — Governor Ted Strickland has announced that his office will be taking applications to fill the vacant seat on the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.
The vacancy results from Judge Jeffrey Froelich’s election in November to the Ohio 2nd District Court of Appeals.
This will be Strickland’s third appointment to the court’s general division. He appointed Judge Frances McGee to fill the seat of G. Jack Davis, who died in 2007, and Judge Mary Wiseman to fill the seat of John Kessler, who retired that same year. Both McGee and Wiseman were re-elected in November.
Applications for the open seat must be received by the governor’s office by 5 p.m. on Dec. 23. Candidates must be available to interview in person in Columbus on January 16.
Applicants for the Montgomery County position must be a resident and registered elector of Montgomery County and not yet 70 years old on the day they begin their duties, as dictated by Ohio law.
In addition, they must be admitted to practice law in Ohio and have maintained their legal license for six years prior to assuming the judicial post or served as a judge of a court of record in any jurisdiction in the United States.
To continue service in the position, the appointee must run in the November 2010 judicial election.
The regional panel that will help evaluate candidates will include:
— Gary Leppla, president of the Ohio State Bar Association
— Tom Ritchie, regional director of AFSCME Ohio Council 8
— Tom Hagel, professor of law at the University of Dayton School of Law
— Willie Walker, retired president of the Dayton Urban League
— Stacy M. Thompson, vice president of community development for KeyBank and member of the Dayton City Schools Board of Education
— Mark Owens, clerk of courts for Dayton Municipal Courts and chair of the Montgomery County Democratic Party
At-large panel members will include James Ray (panel chair), retired judge Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division; John Kulewicz, attorney, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, LLP; Betty Davis, president, Community Concepts, Inc.; Meg Flack, Board Member of the Ohio League of Women Voters; and Doloris Learmonth, Managing partner at Peck Shaffer and Williams LLP in Cincinnati
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By Lou Grieco
| Wednesday, December 10, 2008, 03:30 PM
DAYTON — Three Dayton men accused of robbing the Linden Avenue KeyBank on Dec. 4 were indicted on multiple charges Wednesday, Dec. 10.
Jeremy Lewis, Johnny Wilkerson and Trey Geter, all 22, were were each indicted on one count of armed bank robbery, two counts of using, carrying and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, and one count of conspiracy to commit bank robbery. Lewis and Wilkerson were additionally charged with one count each of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The three were arrested on December 5 and have been in custody since their arrests. Following a detention hearing held Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sharon L. Ovington ordered that all three would remain in custody pending trial.
The FBI’s investigation of the crime revealed that Lewis, Wilkerson and Geter entered the front doors of the Key Bank on Linden Avenue at approximately 9:33 a.m. on December 4, with hoods covering their heads, gloves on their hands and facial coverings, according to Gregory G. Lockhart, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
Geter immediately fired a semiautomatic handgun into the ceiling of the bank lobby, then demanded for everyone to get to the ground. Geter and Lewis vaulted the teller counter, gathered money from the teller drawers, and then forced a teller to go and open the bank’s cash vault, while Wilkerson stood guard in the lobby, Lockhart said.
After the teller hesitated in opening the cash drawers, Geter fired his handgun once again, and Lewis assaulted the teller. The three men fled the bank after the teller was unable to open the vault.
According to the indictment, Lewis and Wilkerson have previous felony convictions.
All three men face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years up to 25 years in prison on the armed bank robbery charge. The first count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence carries a mandatory minimum consecutive sentence of 10 years up to life, and the second count of discharging a firearm during a violent crime carries a mandatory minimum consecutive sentence of 25 years up to life.
The conspiracy charge carries a sentence of up to five years in prison. Lewis and Wilkerson each face up to 10 years in prison on the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
“The Federal Government enacts stringent penalties for violent crimes,” Lockhart said. “Those involved in bank robberies face rigid sentences in federal prison upon conviction.”
Lockhart commended the collaborative investigation by agents of the FBI, Dayton Police Officers, and Montgomery County Sheriff Deputies. Deputy Criminal Chief and Assistant U.S. Attorney Vipal Patel is prosecuting the case.
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By Lou Grieco
| Tuesday, December 9, 2008, 01:31 PM
DAYTON — A Centerville attorney who pleaded guilty to a count of possession of child pornography will be sentenced March 6 in U.S. District Court
Thomas A. Ballato, 40, who was arrested in September 2006, pleaded guilty Friday night, Dec. 5, before U.S. District Senior Judge Walter H. Rice. The sentencing range in his plea agreement calls for 48 to 96 months in prison and lifetime supervised release.
Ballato was accused of trying to buy four child-pornography magazines between August and September 2004, according to court documents.
According to the complaint, Ballato responded via e-mail to an ad by an undercover U.S. postal inspector.He ordered the magazines, which contained sexually explicit pictures of children, some prepubescent, for $80. Some of the magazines contained images that portrayed sadistic and masochistic conduct.
The inspector told Ballato to cut the bills in half and send the half-bills to “Playground Videos” in Kennedale, Texas. The other halves were to be sent after the magazines were received. The inspector got the first set of cut bills Sept. 16.
On Oct. 4, 2004 a inspector posing as a mail carrier delivered the magazines to Ballato’s home, 30A Country Manor Lane. A woman signed for the package, and agents executed a search warrant there. Agents also searched Ballato’s office at Brannon and Associates. The agents took two computers and an envelope.
According to the plea agreement filed Monday, prosecutors agreed to drop a count of receipt of child pornography. Under the agreement, Ballato agreed to forfeit the magazines a DVD, 6 CDs, 8 VHS tapes, a notebook , a CD-R and two floppy discs.
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