Man who bilked county begins sentence

CHARDON -- The former mayor of Lyndhurst who bilked Trumbull County out of $200,000 has begun serving a 30-day jail sentence.
Barry Jacobson, 37, of Chagrin Falls, surrendered Monday at the Geauga County Jail for his role in the Trumbull County purchasing scandal.
Jacobson was sentenced April 24 in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to five years' probation with the first 30 days in jail, and payment of $200,000 in restitution.
So far, Jacobson has made payments of $120,000 and is scheduled to pay off the balance by September 2007.
He pleaded guilty in September 2003 to one count each of bribery and complicity to theft in office. The county prosecutor said that Jacobson was selling supplies to the county at a price inflated as much as 500 percent. For example, he sold a can of wasp spray for $73.
While working for a Cleveland-area cleaning supplies company, Jacobson worked through Tony Delmont, the county's former maintenance director, to steal the money between 1999 and 2002 by giving bribes so that he could sell overpriced cleaning supplies.
Delmont and his wife, Karen, have been convicted of various crimes in the scheme.
In all, the prosecutor's office said various individuals schemed to steal $400,000.