Former supervisors sentenced

The last defendant will be sentenced next week.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- Two former supervisors at the Mahoning County jail who passed on an order to beat an inmate are headed to federal prison.
Bill Deluca and Ronald Denson were sentenced Tuesday in federal court here. U.S. District Judge Lesley Brooks Wells sentenced Deluca, 54, of Youngstown, to 16 months in prison; Denson, 50, of Austintown, received 18 months.
They remain free on unsecured bond pending notification of where to report to serve their time. Once out of prison, each man must serve two years' supervised release.
Deluca was fined $3,000. Denson was not fined. Deluca retired as a sergeant July 17, 2002. Denson, a corporal until the rank was abolished, retired as a deputy Sept. 20, 2003.
Plea agreements
Both reached plea agreements with the government after their indictment in July 2004. Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy against civil rights, admitting they passed on an order from then-Maj. Michael Budd to punish an inmate who punched a female guard Dec. 28, 2001.
At Deluca's sentencing, Steven M. Dettelbach, an assistant U.S. attorney, told Judge Wells that the former jail supervisor's cooperation was instrumental in bringing a case against Budd. Dettelbach said Deluca provided the "first and direct link" to Budd.
The judge, reading Deluca's comments contained in a presentence report, quoted him as saying that he was not a friend of what he called the "Mike Budd administration" at the sheriff's department. Deluca, because he feared Budd's wrath, made a choice he will always regret, the judge read aloud.
Budd, 44, of Boardman was found guilty at trial of ordering the beating of inmate Tawhon Easterly, obstructing justice and personally roughing up two other inmates. Budd, who resigned in March, was remanded to custody when sentenced to 97 months in prison in July.
What lawyer said
Deluca's Boardman attorney, Robert J. Rohrbaugh II, said his client "followed Major Budd's law." Rohrbaugh said there were serious ramifications for those who didn't do what Budd wanted.
Judge Wells said she doesn't know what would have happened had Deluca not followed Budd's order.
The beating of Easterly, meanwhile, came to light when then-Deputy Ronald J. Kaschak applied for a job at the Austintown Police Department in 2002. During a series of pre-employment exams, which included voice-stress analysis, Kaschak made allegations of questionable use of force in the jail.
Kaschak, 30, of Austintown pleaded guilty to depriving an inmate of his constitutional rights by aiding and abetting others in using excessive force. Kaschak will be sentenced next week.
Easterly has been incarcerated at Trumbull Correctional Institution since July 2002, serving nine years for involuntary manslaughter.
meade@vindy.com