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Sides meet in Soldano theft case

LISBON — A pretrial hearing in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court for former Leetonia police chief John Soldano became an informal meeting between visiting Judge Virgil Lee Sinclair Jr., Assistant County Prosecutor Megan Bickerton, and defense attorney Bruce Williams.

Bickerton had already provided Williams with the 400 pages of evidence, mostly from the auditor’s office. She also provided the materials to Sinclair, who said he wanted to be able to familiarize himself with the case.

Soldano, 53, who served as the Leetonia police chief for 26 years, has been charged with theft in office, which is a third-degree felony. According to state Auditor David Yost, Soldano repaid Leetonia for $15,916 in losses back in January, which represents the total amount of the loss from work log discrepancies and money missing from two fundraising accounts.

Bickerton said the case involves about 20 checks written from the fundraising accounts totaling $14,200, checks which were reportedly written to Soldano and endorsed. Williams noted the money has been paid back, plus additional money.

Another pretrial was scheduled for Oct. 27. The trial in the case is scheduled for April 17.

A retired judge from Stark County Court of Common Pleas, Sinclair was assigned to the case by Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor of the Ohio Supreme Court after both county Common Pleas Court judges, Scott Washam and C. Ashley Pike, determined they would be unable to hear the case.

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