MAHONING COUNTY Former director pleads guilty to theft from CIC

The woman could get up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Sentencing will be May 10 for the former director of the Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp., who admitted she'd stolen more than $50,000 from the agency.
Robin Rogers, 45, whose address is listed as Auburn Township in Geauga County, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to one count of theft. She was secretly indicted by a county grand jury July 31, 2003.
Gina Arnaut, an assistant county prosecutor, said the plea agreement requires that Rogers make full restitution.
Judge Jack Durkin ordered that Community Corrections Association check into Rogers' background before she is sentenced. Arnaut said she will adopt the recommendation in that report whether Rogers be sentenced to prison or be placed on probation.
Rogers could be sentenced to up to 18 months in prison and fined up to $5,000 for the fourth-degree felony. The judge has the final word on sentencing, regardless of the recommendation.
Rogers, dressed in a blue denim skirt and a black jacket, stood with her hands clasped in front of her as she answered questions from Judge Durkin and acknowledged her guilt. Her lawyer was Craig T. Weintraub.
The case was originally scheduled for trial Wednesday, but that was negated when Rogers opted to plead guilty.
New safeguards
Reid Dulberger, a CIC staff member and executive vice president of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, was in the courtroom for the hearing. He said the theft has caused the CIC to develop new accounting safeguards to ensure that such a problem does not happen again.
Dulberger said Rogers converted checks made out to the CIC for her own use. She deposited them into an account that she'd opened at a bank in Beachwood, a Cleveland suburb.
"It was not an account that we had any knowledge of or control over," he said.
Arnaut said the stolen checks totaled some $51,260. The CIC has insurance that covered the loss, so restitution will be made to the insurance company.
Rogers was hired by the CIC in 2001 and was fired in 2003.
bjackson@vindy.com