Deputy is violating policy, sheriff says

Kim Marciano has been off work since she was injured on the job in February.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Mahoning County deputy sheriff who continues to live with a felon could be fired, Sheriff Randall A. Wellington says.
Wellington said Wednesday that Deputy Kim Marciano's relationship with 28-year-old Larese Jones, convicted of robbery in 2002, is a violation of department policy. The sheriff said deputies cannot associate with felons in any way.
Marciano and Jones live in a Wampum Drive house on the city's West Side. Marciano and her husband, a city police officer, are getting a divorce.
Wellington said Marciano, 42, has been with the sheriff's department since March 1994. She is a sister of Police Chief Robert E. Bush Jr., a candidate for mayor.
Reached Wednesday, Bush had no comment.
Marciano's association with Jones has made her the subject of an investigation by the Internal Affairs Division, Wellington said. He estimated the probe should take another week or two.
He said Marciano could be fired, especially since she continues to live with Jones, exacerbating the situation.
Possible violations
A search of the Wampum home turned up a gun. As a felon on probation, Jones is not permitted to be around firearms.
Jones' probation officer has said Jones also violated his probation by driving without a valid license last week.
He remains out on bond, posted by Marciano, pending a probation revocation hearing next month in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
The sheriff said Marciano was injured on duty Feb. 25 and has been off work since then. He said she slipped on a wet floor in the jail and injured her knees and elbows.
Marciano has 90 days from the date of the injury to return to work or seek workers' compensation, the sheriff said.
Jones pleaded guilty to a robbery charge in July 2002 in common pleas court. Judge Maureen A. Cronin suspended his five-year prison term and placed him on three years' probation. He violated that probation in 2003, and the judge revoked his probation and sentenced him to the original five-year sentence.
The case was appealed to the 7th District Court of Appeals, which sent the case back to Judge Cronin for resentencing in 2004. Two months ago, Judge Cronin gave Jones credit for time served in prison and put him on two years' probation.
If the judge determines next month he again violated his probation, she can send him back to prison for the remainder of his original prison term, which would be about three years.