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EAST LIVERPOOL -- A city judge made quick work of a bench trial against the city's former safety-service director, who pled no contest to a municipal tax offense.
With a change of plea by Brian Allen, of South Shadylane Drive, to a failure to file a city income tax return, East Liverpool Municipal Court Judge Dominic Frank fined him $50 plus costs within minutes Wednesday morning. A similar charge against Allen's wife was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Assistant City Law Director John Gamble was there representing the city and said the matter didn't center around Allen's failure to pay city income taxes but file the return, which is mandatory for city residents. At this point, all his paperwork is filed and the taxes paid (they had been done so by his employer at the time), so he was just fined the $50.
Earlier this week, Allen's former boss Ryan Stovall was convicted of an municipal tax charge and will be fined only $50 if he satisfies his debt to the city tax office and files his return.
Stovall served as the city's mayor through Dec. 31, 2019.
With this out of the way, next up for Allen is a court appearance on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge at 10:30 a.m. April 3 in East Liverpool Municipal Court before Visiting Judge Mark A. Frost.
Unlike this tax issue, where incarceration wasn't on the table if convicted, he will be represented by defense attorney C. Joseph King. Allen faces up to a $1,000 fine and six months in Columbiana County Jail, after he and his brothers are accused of assaulting a nephew.