Delmont's sentencing leaves key questions unanswered

As he faces three-year prison sentence handed down by Judge Peter Kontos of the Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, Tony Delmont wonders why no "public officials" have been charged in county government's purchasing scandal. We have been wondering the same thing for quite some time, but there has been no definitive answer from anyone involved in the investigation.
But with the key participant in the $400,000 scam insisting that he has become the "fall guy," perhaps Prosecutor Dennis Watkins and Special Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci of Portage County will be inspired to answer questions that have arisen since The Vindicator revealed in 2002 that the county was paying exorbitantly high prices for cleaning supplies and other items.
The series triggered a formal probe involving local and state law enforcement agencies. It subsequently established that Delmont, the county's maintenance director at the time, had helped cleaning supply vendors bilk government of $400,000 between 1999 and 2002 in return for bribes. Delmont was convicted of bribery, theft in office and money laundering, and on Jan. 27 was sentenced to concurrent three-year prison terms on each of seven felony counts.
Judge Kontos ordered Delmont to report to prison on April 3, at which time a $60,000 fine will also be due. He was not immediately imprisoned because he has acute lymphomblastic leukemia and could die without the treatments he is receiving in Cleveland.
His doctor sent the court a letter explaining the seriousness of his patient's condition. Dr. William Tse wrote that even with treatment, Delmont's chance of surviving is less than 50 percent.
Sense of urgency
Given this reality, some sense of urgency is required to get to the bottom of why the case seems to have stalled or ended. As we have noted in the past, Delmont submitted a three-page affidavit to the common pleas court a couple of years ago in which he stated that he gave $50,000 to elected officials, as well as tickets for sporting events, electronic equipment and other gifts. He also claimed that his actions were at the specific direction of commissioners and/or the sheriff. The commissioners at the time were Michael O'Brien, who is now mayor of Warren, James Tsagaris and Joseph Angelo, who lost re-election. The sheriff was and is Thomas Altiere. All have denied any wrongdoing.
But Delmont continues to insist that he wasn't the only one in county government involved in the purchasing scheme. "I had a part I played," he told a Vindicator reporter. "I am responsible for that, but if they need a fall guy, I'm it. I thought I was doing what I had to."
Who is "they?" Why did he think he had to do what he did? Why has the affidavit filed with the common pleas court not been given credence by the prosecutor's office?
Finally, why has Special Prosecutor Vigluicci remained silent on the failure of a grand jury to issue indictments after it had spent nine months hearing testimony from county officials and employees about the kickback scheme? Vigluicci dismissed the grand jury last June and has not impaneled another. He also has not said whether his work is done.
While the prosecutor's office has reason to be proud of the convictions of Delmont and others and of the $300,000 that has been recouped so far, the idea that the former maintenance director was the highest ranking county employee involved in the purchasing scam is hard to accept.