TRUMBULL COUNTY Angelo case is no longer on the books

The commissioner declined to say if the case was expunged.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- The name Joseph Angelo no longer appears in municipal court records.
Angelo, a Trumbull County commissioner, pleaded no contest in municipal court in June 2001 to a misdemeanor attempted gambling charge, according to Vindicator articles.
None of the records related to Angelo's conviction, however, can be located at the court, court officials say.
Paul Lawrence, clerk of courts, said if a case is expunged, all records of the conviction and sentence must be removed from the court files as well as from any other state law enforcement agency that had made a record of it.
To have a conviction expunged, the person must ask the court, have no other criminal convictions and have no pending charges.
Angelo, however, declined to say whether he had the matter expunged when asked why he answered "no" to a question about prior misdemeanor or felony convictions on an application he filed this year to be an insurance agent.
"You do your own homework," Angelo replied.
Home raided in 2000
When he appeared in court on the charge, Angelo had said he had done nothing wrong in February 2000 when he was inside a Niles home that was raided by police and officers from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Law enforcement agencies had monitored gambling at the house for 10 months before the raid, officials said at the time.
Angelo's application to be an agent was filed with the Ohio Department of Insurance several months ago, officials with ODI said.
A spokesman with the agency said officials did a background check on Angelo and no misdemeanor or felony convictions were found.
If the case were expunged, Angelo is not required to tell officials about the matter, the spokesman said.
According to the ODI Web site, Angelo received his license in July.
Angelo, a three-term commissioner, lost the March primary to Paul Heltzel, a former assistant Trumbull County prosecutor. Angelo's last day in office is Dec. 31.
sinkovich@vindy.com