Trumbull jailer fired after document was altered

WARREN — A Trumbull County Jail corrections officer was fired for allegedly altering a document pertaining to whether an inmate, who later died in the jail, appeared to be under the influence of drugs when he was booked in.

The firing became known the same day another jailer was charged in Newton Falls Municipal Court with discharging a firearm in the city limits for a confrontation he had with a motorist in front of his Newton Falls home.

Michael Palumbo, 38, of Niles, an eight-year employee, was fired Monday, said Chief Don Guarino of the sheriff’s department.

According to a letter from Dennis Watkins, Trumbull County prosecutor, and Sheriff Thomas Altiere, jail officials discovered in June 2009 that Palumbo altered the booking information he had recorded on Jan. 12, 2008, regarding inmate Adam N. Border, 24, of Vienna.

Originally Palumbo indicated that Border was not under the influence of drugs when he was booked in.

But when Eric Shay, assistant warden, was reviewing booking information on June 4, 2009, while meeting with an attorney representing the county in a lawsuit filed by Border’s family, Shay discovered that the booking information had been altered, the Watkins-Altiere letter says.

Shay determined that Palumbo changed the information on April 27, 2009, to indicate that Border was under influence of drugs when he was booked in, the letter says.

The letter was sent to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation asking the agency to investigate the matter to determine whether Palumbo’s actions constituted criminal activity.

Read more in Saturday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com