GOLDBERG CASE Former lawyer to stay in jail

The judge ruled that the issue should have been raised in appellate court.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A judge has denied Richard Goldberg's request to be released from the Mahoning County Jail.
Judith A. Cross, a retired common pleas court judge from Medina County, ruled Thursday that Goldberg's jail sentence for contempt of court is legal and proper, so there is no authority for her to order Sheriff Randall Wellington to release him.
She also said Goldberg should have raised the issue when he appealed the contempt findings.
Judge Cross heard the case by special assignment of the Ohio Supreme Court.
Contempt sentence
Goldberg, 59, formerly of Liberty Township, is serving 21 months for a contempt of court finding levied against him by Judge Timothy P. Maloney of Mahoning County Probate Court. Goldberg also is awaiting trial in common pleas court on multiple counts of theft and forgery and one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
His attorney, Martin E. Yavorcik, filed a motion two weeks ago asking that Wellington be forced to release Goldberg because he was being held illegally.
Yavorcik said that because the sentence was based on misdemeanor charges of contempt, it should have been served concurrently with a 51-month stretch Goldberg served in federal prison for charges similar to the state charges for which he is awaiting trial in common pleas court.
Under those circumstances, the contempt sentence would be finished by now and Goldberg should be freed from jail, Yavorcik said.
Goldberg is a former medical malpractice lawyer who pleaded guilty to stealing millions of dollars from former clients.
Concealed money
Judge Maloney imposed the contempt sentence in May 2000, while Goldberg was still in federal prison. He found that Goldberg concealed a total of $1.2 million that should have been paid to his clients in four cases.
Goldberg appealed the decision and sentences, but was overruled by the 7th District Court of Appeals.
Judge Cross wrote in her one-page decision that the concurrent sentencing issue should have been addressed when the contempt findings and sentence were appealed.
Since they were not, the time has passed to raise that argument, so she denied the request to order Goldberg's release. She also denied Yavorcik's request to allow Goldberg to be released on bond while he awaits trial, which is scheduled for February.
Yavorcik could not be reached to comment.
bjackson@vindy.com