Man pleads guilty to fraud charges

The bar and restaurant owner will be sentenced Dec. 21.

staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — The owner of the Youngstown Sports Grille in Boardman has pleaded guilty to a bill of information charging him with five counts of workers’ compensation fraud.

Sean C. Pregibon, 36, of Brandt Place, Boardman, entered his plea to the five first-degree misdemeanor counts Tuesday before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who will sentence him at 10 a.m. Dec. 21.

An information is a formal written accusation made by a prosecutor charging someone with a crime. An information can be used only when the accused waives indictment by a grand jury.

In this case, the bill of information replaces an indictment issued by the Mahoning County grand jury in July, in which Pregibon was charged with fourth-degree felony-level workers’ compensation fraud and with a misdemeanor charge of failing to comply with state law.

The indictment said that, from March 1, 2007, to Feb. 28, 2009, Pregibon failed to secure workers’ compensation coverage with purpose to defraud the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. The indictment said the unpaid assessments were between $5,000 and $100,000 but did not give a specific figure.

Jonathan Metzler, an assistant Ohio attorney general who is prosecuting the case, recommended that Pregibon be put on probation and ordered to make restitution for the premiums owed to BWC. The premiums owed will be determined when a BWC audit of Pregibon’s business and payroll records is completed.

The plea agreement says Pregibon could be jailed for up to 180 days and fined up to $1,000 on each count and ordered to pay court and investigative costs. The bar and restaurant could be fined up to $5,000 on each count.

The pre-sentence investigation, which the judge will consider in determining Pregibon’s sentence, will be performed by the Community Corrections Association of Youngstown.

Pregibon was represented by Atty. J. Gerald Ingram. Pregibon could not be reached to comment.