Hill pleads guilty to theft charges

LISBON -- Clifford E. Hill Jr. will be sentenced Oct. 11 after pleading guilty to theft charges before Judge David Tobin of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court.
Hill, 32, of Sprucevale Road, Rogers, was to appear in court Monday, but attorneys reached a plea agreement Thursday and Hill changed his plea from innocent to guilty.
Judge Tobin ordered that Hill remain in the county jail and his bond continued.
Hill is the estranged husband of Tracy Hill, 25, who has been missing for three months. The theft charge is unrelated to her disappearance.
County prosecutors recommend Hill receive an 11-month prison sentence.
The maximum is a 12-month sentence and $5,000 fine.
Charges: Hill is charged with stealing aluminum and other items valued between $500 and $5,000 from Miller Casting in Columbiana in April.
A trial is set Oct. 2 for Hill on charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, related to his being found in possession of a car his wife's mother had given the missing woman to drive.
Officers won't speculate on Tracy Hill's fate, but several of the search efforts for her this summer focused on finding a body.
Hill was also indicted this week on charges of receiving stolen property and forgery, both related, police said, to hill forging checks from an account not his own, and a money order he did not purchase.