Lawyer hired to assist in complaint against Dem candidate for Trumbull engineer

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Trumbull County Engineer David DeChristofaro

WARREN — Trumbull County commissioners approved the hiring of Atty. Thomas Wilson to assist the county elections board in processing an election complaint made against David DeChristofaro, the Democratic Party nominee for county engineer.

Wilson, of Warren, has a law office in Youngstown. The commissioners authorized Wilson to make $150 per hour for work on the complaint filed by two Hartford men and their Cleveland attorney against DeChristofaro for allegedly offering a job to Niles Mayor Ralph Infante before the March primary election.

The commissioners, along with Prosecutor Dennis Watkins, will now apply to the county common pleas court, asking the court to appoint Wilson to the case.

Watkins decided last week to ask for an outside lawyer to handle the complaint.

The prosecutor’s office has assisted the elections board with election-related complaints in the past, but Atty. Subodh Chandra of Cleveland charged that the prosecutor’s office had a conflict of interest in handling the matter and should ask for assistance because of Watkins’ familiarity with DeChristofaro.

For the complete story, see Thursday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com.