YOUNGSTOWN Supermax guard faces theft charge
The corrections officer is free on $2,500 bond and is on paid medical leave.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- An Ohio State Penitentiary corrections officer, in uniform, snatched a Vienna woman's wallet with $600 in it at Giant Eagle in Liberty, police say.
The case against Sgt. Marguerita Roberson, 38, of Youngstown will be presented to a Trumbull County grand jury Thursday, said Liberty Sgt. Richard J. Tisone. The charge is felony theft -- $500 or more.
He has the store's surveillance videotape and a receipt the victim gave him that shows what time she bought a newspaper Aug. 26 at the Belmont Avenue store.
Tisone said the 70-year-old victim had left her wallet at the service counter after buying a paper at 3:40 p.m. Roberson, he said, was next in line.
The surveillance videotape shows that Roberson, in uniform, looked at the wallet, walked away then reached her arm back and took it, he said.
"I contacted her by phone and she gave me three, four stories as to why she took it," Tisone said. "Finally, on the fifth story, she told me she was having financial difficulty and had been evicted from her apartment."
Roberson had been living in Liberty but went to stay with a cousin in Youngstown, he said.
Status of case
A theft warrant had been issued for Roberson, who surrendered to Liberty police Sept. 25, records show. She waived her right to a preliminary hearing in Girard Municipal Court and had the case bound over to a grand jury Sept. 27. She is free on $2,500 personal bond.
Tisone said he has spoken to prison investigator Harry Wilson about the case. Wilson is a retired FBI agent who was hired at the supermax prison on Youngstown's East Side about three months ago.
The Ohio State Penitentiary, on Coitsville-Hubbard Road, houses nearly 500 inmates with a security staff of 292.
Roberson, a corrections officer since 1990, transferred to the prison in August 1997 from Cleveland, said Keith Fletcher, public information officer at the prison. She's been on paid medical leave since Sept. 18, he said.
Fletcher said Roberson, who is under administrative investigation, would have been placed on paid leave anyhow, pending the outcome of the criminal case. "Appropriate action" will be taken if she's found guilty, he said, declining to elaborate further.
Tisone said the penalty for the felony theft is up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.
meade@vindy.com