TRUMBULL COUNTY Lid Chem chief enters plea

Maiorana and her company, Lid Chem, were indicted separately.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
and STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The president of a company that did thousands of dollars' worth of business with Trumbull County without a contract was released on $50,000 bond after pleading innocent to felony charges.
Linda Maiorana, president of Lid Chem, was picked up by deputy sheriffs Wednesday afternoon in Canfield, where she returned last month after moving to Arizona with her husband, Terry, after the company came under investigation.
Prosecutors said in court they believe Terry Maiorana remains out of state.
Last week, a grand jury separately indicted both Maiorana and her company on charges of bribing Tony Delmont, former county maintenance director, in 1998 with an $800 check; money laundering, for having Delmont's associate Marietta Brzeczek cash the check on his behalf; and theft, for referring service calls to repair county equipment to other companies and padding the invoices.
Prosecutors say they found overcharges totaling $5,300 since 1999.
Lid Chem and a related company, Tri-County Supplies, attracted prosecutors' attention late last year, after The Vindicator noted that the companies have unlisted phone numbers and do business out of a Girard post office box.
No formal contract
The companies collected $800,000 from Trumbull County for janitorial supplies since 1993 without ever holding a formal contract or submitting a bid.
According to county invoices, taxpayers spent more than $70,000 with Lid Chem for items such as toilet bowl cleaner and laundry soap in 2002 alone before county Prosecutor Dennis Watkins closed the door on the company at the end of August.
The county maintenance department, however, did not keep documentation that would show that the supplies that were ordered and paid for actually arrived.
State law generally requires contracts worth more than $15,000 to be put out for competitive bid.
Delmont approved purchases from the company.
Last year, Delmont said he did not know where the company was located or if it has a warehouse.
Delmont was fired by commissioners after he pleaded innocent to charges of bribery, theft in office and money laundering. He remains free on bond.
Business facts
In incorporation papers, Lid Chem lists Linda Maiorana of 918 Dravis Ave., Girard, as its representative. On other paperwork, she is referred to as company president.
Tri-County Supply does business from the same single-family ranch home, according to county records.
Neither Lid Chem nor Tri-County Supplies owns real estate under the company names in Trumbull or Mahoning counties.
Inventory was kept at the Maioranas' Canfield home, according to Mahoning County personal property tax records.
The company finished off 2001 with less then $2,000 worth of equipment and inventory, those tax records show.
In 2001, the maintenance department spent $545,396 on supplies.
In the first 10 months of 2003, the county spent about $32,925 to buy all the toilet paper, trash can liners, glass cleaner and other janitorial supplies it needed, county records say.