Ex-Trumbull Co. commissioner to plead guilty to felony fraud

By William K. Alcorn

The ex-official is accused of not reporting a $36,551 loan from a businessman

WARREN — James G. Tsagaris, former Trumbull County commissioner, is expected to plead guilty to two counts of felony mail fraud brought against him by the U.S. attorney’s office in Cleveland.

According to court documents, Tsagaris, 74, is scheduled to be arraigned and plead guilty to the charges June 5 in U.S. District Court Northern District in Akron. His arraignment is scheduled for 11 a.m. before Judge Sara Lioi.

Neither Tsagaris, of Howland, nor his attorney, Michael B. Bowler of Akron, were available to comment Friday afternoon.

The charges filed against Tsagaris on Thursday result from an investigation by the Youngstown office of the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Atty. Justin J. Roberts. When asked Friday if Tsagaris’ plan to plead guilty is the result of a plea bargain, Roberts said: “I can’t talk about that at this point. The investigation is ongoing.”

Specifically, Tsagaris, who was a Trumbull commissioner between January 1999 and December 2006, is accused of receiving payments and a $36,551 loan from an area businessman who at the time did business with Trumbull County.

Tsagaris failed to report the loan, for which there was no payment schedule or collateral offered, on his financial disclosure statements to the Ohio Ethics Commission for 2004 and 2005. Knowingly delivering a false document through the mail constitutes mail fraud, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

According to the charges, Tsagaris engaged in a “scheme and artifice” to defraud and deprive Trumbull County and its residents of their right to his “honest services.”

Trumbull Commissioner Daniel Polivka, who was in office at the same time as Tsagaris, said Friday that he had just learned about the charges. He called the situation “very unfortunate.”

If convicted, the maximum penalty is 20 years in jail, although the sentence is rarely that long, said Roberts. The sentence is determined by the court after review of factors unique to the case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation, he said.

alcorn@vindy.com