TRUMBULL COUNTY FBI takes records of charges involving Sheriff Altiere's son

The police chief said he has proof that the arresting officer was in court the day the case was scheduled.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The FBI has seized municipal court records about a speeding charge against a son of Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere, police and court officials said.
And there is a dispute over the accuracy of the court records dealing with the case.
An FBI agent was at the court last week and picked up the file that dealt with Thomas R. Altiere's traffic case, court officials said.
A spokesman with the FBI's Youngstown office would not comment.
According to computerized court records on the case, Thomas R. Altiere, 22, of Cain Drive, Howland, was in court July 31 for trial on a speeding charge. He had pleaded innocent June 9.
What's in dispute: The records state that the charge was dismissed because the city police officer who issued the speeding ticket failed to appear in court.
Law Director Greg Hicks said that he doesn't remember the case but that traffic cases are routinely dismissed if the arresting officer doesn't appear in court.
However, Police Chief John Mandopoulos said the officer, Tim Brown, was in court that day. Mandopoulos said he does not know why the court records state that Brown did not appear or why the case was dismissed.
Mandopoulos said: "If an officer is obligated to be in court for a case, that is a very serious matter to us and that officer better be there. Officer Brown was in court that day, and we have three different items to prove it."
The chief noted that: Brown used his identification badge to clock in, which shows that he was at the court at 1:20 p.m. and left at 1:30 p.m.; he signed a court record book that shows he was there at 1:20 p.m.; and his court subpoena is also signed by an employee of the city prosecutor's office.
Mandopoulos said subpoenas are signed when the person subpoenaed appears in court.
The chief would not say why Brown was at the court for only a short time.
Brown declined to comment.
Mandopoulos said the FBI agent spoke to him and Brown about the case.
"I don't know what, if anything, the FBI is doing with this," the chief said.
Sheriff Altiere said that he doesn't remember his son's being in court for a speeding ticket and that he never asked for any favors.
The sheriff added that he does not know why the FBI is investigating the matter.
Altiere's case was handled by visiting Judge Donald R. Ford Jr., who was filling in while Judge Thomas Gysegem was on sick leave.
Ford could not be reached to comment.
The speeding ticket is not the only matter the FBI is looking into regarding Sheriff Altiere.
Another concern: An official with the Trumbull County Board of Election said an FBI agent has been calling the office asking questions about the board's investigation into the sheriff's campaign finance reports.
Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell has decided not to certify Sheriff Altiere's re-election in 2000. Blackwell's decision was made, in part, because Sheriff Altiere's campaign-spending reports remain in question by the county elections board and the Ohio Elections Commission.
Sheriff Altiere also has a request for a writ of mandamus pending with the 5th District Court of Appeals. Sheriff Altiere asked for the writ in December, wanting the court to force the elections board to certify the election results.