Innocent plea in billing scandal

The defendant remains free on a $50,000 bond.
& lt;a href=mailto:siff@vindy.com & gt;By STEPHEN SIFF & lt;/a & gt;
and PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- One of several people secretly indicted in the Trumbull County purchasing scandal surrendered Tuesday after avoiding law officers for nearly a week.
Dennis Pirko, a boiler repairman who billed the Trumbull County Maintenance Department for $327,000 worth of work since 1997, also failed to comply with several grand jury subpoenas to provide business documents, Chris Becker, an assistant county prosecutor, said in court.
Pirko, the owner and sole employee of Northern Engineering, pleaded innocent to charges of bribery, theft, money laundering and failure to file state tax returns.
Judge John Stuard of common pleas court set bond at $50,000 on the condition that Pirko comply with the subpoenas.
"Mr. Pirko is a good, decent guy, and I think he feels he is being railroaded for the purpose of the prosecutor going after information," said his lawyer, Heidi Hanni. "We intend to go to trial."
Accusations
Pirko is accused of double-billing the county for $1,375 by submitting the same invoice in both March and April 2001, the indictment says.
He also is accused in the indictment of bribing maintenance director Tony Delmont in 1998 with two checks, one for $400, the other for $500. Both checks were made out to cash and deposited in the account of Marietta Brzeczek, a friend of Delmont's.
Pirko has said the checks were for the purchase of tangible goods. Hanni said she would prove that at trial.
Pirko also is accused of money laundering for allegedly hiding the purpose of the transaction by passing the money through Brzeczek's bank account.
He also will face charges for failing to file state tax returns between 1998 and 2002.
Others in case
Delmont, the official who approved Pirko's work for the county, has pleaded innocent to bribery, theft in office and money laundering. County commissioners fired him from his $71,000-a-year job.
The head of another company Delmont dealt with, Barry Jacobson of Envirochemical, has pleaded guilty in connection with bribing Delmont in return for the county's business. In an affidavit, Jacobson swore that he was given access to county account codes and allowed to sell the county whatever products he wanted at whatever price he wanted.
County prosecutors, along with the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation and the state auditor's office, began investigating the maintenance department after a series of Vindicator articles about excessive spending and sloppy record-keeping.
Pirko was subpoenaed to testify in front of the grand jury in November. He declined to say what he was asked or if he cooperated with the investigation.
According to the Ohio Construction Examining Board, Pirko is not licensed to work on heating and air conditioning units. His license expired in 1995, officials said.
He also is not registered with Warren. The city requires that people working on heating and air conditioning units in the city be registered.
Most of the county buildings Pirko worked on are in the city, county records state.
& lt;a href=mailto:siff@vindy.com & gt;siff@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt; & lt;a href=mailto:sinkovich@vindy.com & gt;sinkovich@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;