MAHONING COUNTY Lordi's request is denied

The judge said the ex-commissioner's refusal to accept responsibility will keep him in prison.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A judge has denied former Mahoning County Commissioner Frank Lordi's request for early release from prison.
Lordi's unrepentant attitude is largely why he'll stay behind bars, said visiting Judge Mark K. Wiest.
Lordi, 55, of Canfield Township, went to prison June 1 to begin serving an 18-month sentence for theft in office.
"The defendant's reaction has been to blame everyone associated with his prosecution, conviction and sentencing," Judge Wiest wrote in the ruling he handed down Tuesday. "Given this attitude, he is not a good candidate for shock probation. He should serve the remaining time on his sentence."
A common pleas court jury convicted Lordi in 1999, but he was allowed to remain free while he appealed to the 7th District Court of Appeals, which ruled against him last year.
High court declined: He then asked the Ohio Supreme Court to hear his case, but it declined in May to do so. That's when Judge Wiest ordered Lordi to report to the county jail, from where he was taken to a state prison in Lorain.
Lordi's lawyer, Max Kravitz of Columbus, filed the request for shock probation last week.
"We're disappointed that the theft of $200 in services has resulted in an 18-month prison sentence," Kravitz said, noting that he feels the sentence is disproportionate to the crime. "But the judge makes the call and we live by it."
Kravitz said he has filed an action in federal court seeking to have Lordi released from prison, and has filed a second motion asking Judge Wiest to shorten the sentence and release Lordi early.
"We're optimistic that those motions will be successful," he said.
bjackson@vindy.com