CONTEMPT-OF-COURT CHARGES Goldberg seeks release from county jail

By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Disbarred attorney Richard Goldberg is again asking a court to release him from jail while he awaits trial on felony charges that he stole money from clients.
Atty. Martin E. Yavorcik filed a motion Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court alleging that Goldberg is being kept illegally in the county jail and is asking for his immediate release.
Goldberg, 59, formerly of Liberty Township, has served 11 months of a 21-month jail sentence for contempt of court imposed by Judge Timothy P. Maloney of Mahoning County Probate Court.
The term began immediately after Goldberg finished just more than 50 months in a federal prison for keeping millions of dollars that should have gone to former clients for lawsuit settlements.
The former medical malpractice lawyer is scheduled for trial in common pleas court in February on similar charges. He faces 30 counts including theft, forgery and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
Judge Maloney imposed the 21-month contempt sentence in May 2000, while Goldberg was still serving his federal sentence. He ruled that Goldberg, while working as a medical malpractice lawyer, kept a total of $1.2 million that should have been paid to clients in four cases.
What lawyer argued
In his motion, Yavorcik said the sentence was based on misdemeanor counts of contempt. Under Ohio law, if a person is sentenced to jail for misdemeanor crimes while serving time for felonies -- regardless of whether the felonies are for state or federal charges -- the sentences must run concurrently, Yavorcik said.
That means the time Goldberg spent in federal prison should also have applied to his contempt-of- court sentence, Yavorcik said. Under those circumstances, Goldberg's 21-month sentence would have been up long ago.
"The law makes that very clear," Yavorcik said.
The motion, assigned to Judge James C. Evans, asks for a court order instructing Sheriff Randall Wellington to set Goldberg free. Yavorcik said a hearing on the matter should be within five days, according to the law.
Yavorcik also filed a motion in May in U.S. District Court, Youngstown, accusing Judge Maloney of jailing Goldberg because of a personal vendetta against him and asking that court to order Goldberg's release. That matter is pending.
Other lawyers representing Goldberg have tried unsuccessfully to have the state charges against him dismissed.
bjackson@vindy.com