Dann's deputy security director is ex-con

YOUNGSTOWN — A Liberty man who served as Attorney General Marc Dann's deputy security director lost his job after a criminal background check uncovered a 1976 conviction for involuntary manslaughter.

The conviction went unnoticed until last week because the attorney general's office requires a background check of most of its employees that searches for criminal convictions only in Ohio. David L. Nelson, 57, was convicted in Pennsylvania. He had served since Feb. 20 as deputy security director for Dann, also of Liberty. The job entailed Nelson driving Dann's 2007 Chevy Suburban LT SUV for about 20 hours a week at $12 an hour.

Nelson's criminal past was uncovered when he was to work as a delivery driver for the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation's Boardman office, according to a prepared statement from Ed Simpson, Dann's chief of policy and administration. To be employed by BCI, which is under the jurisdiction of the attorney general, a "more intensive, national background search" is required, according to Simpson.

Records obtained today by The Vindicator from the Mercer County (Pa.) Clerk of Courts show that Nelson, then 25, was arrested Sept. 6, 1975, on felony charges of criminal homicide and voluntary manslaughter related to the death of John M. Smith, then 25, in a Greenville, Pa., residence. A plea bargain resulted in Nelson being found guilty March 5, 1976, of a misdemeanor count of involuntary manslaughter. He served about 3 1/2 months at the Mercer County Jail and then 4 1/2 months at a Sharon halfway house.

Dann knew Nelson for a number of years, but had no idea about his criminal past, said Jennifer Brindisi, an attorney general spokeswoman.

Because of this, the office will require the more detailed national background check for everyone hired since Dann took office Jan. 8, according to Simpson.

For the complete story, read Friday's Vindicator or Vindy.com