Trumbull judge grants work release to former sergeant

By Ed Runyan

Ex- Trumbull Sheriff sergeant Peter Pizzulo began serving his jail sentence Friday in Chardon.

WARREN — A former sergeant with the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Department, convicted of grand theft for stealing money from a fundraising organization, has been granted work release during his 30 days in the Geauga County Jail.

Peter Pizzulo, 47, of Warren, who began serving his sentence Friday, will be allowed to leave the jail, located in Chardon, at 8 a.m. and return at 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Pizzulo’s attorney, Dominic Vitantonio of Cleveland, filed a request for work release with Judge W. Wyatt McKay of common pleas court last week, saying Pizzulo now works in the home remodeling, home improvement and construction business and has jobs lined up during the time he is scheduled to be incarcerated.

“Without Pizzulo’s direction, the jobs do not go forward. He needs the income to sustain himself and his family, as well as to make payments toward his court-ordered restitution,” the attorney wrote.

He added that the “punitive purpose” of having Pizzulo jailed for his offenses will be achieved despite the work release because of the “stigma and losses that have already accrued to him as a result of these proceedings.”

Judge McKay granted the work release two days before Pizzulo reported for his incarceration. He is due to be released Nov. 14.

At Pizzulo’s sentencing Sept. 30, Judge McKay ordered Pizzulo to make restitution of $8,500 — the amount he stole from the Ohio Narcotics Officers Association — and ordered that Pizzulo never work in law enforcement or in security again.

He and Anthony Leshnack, 41, of Girard, former chief of the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Department civil division, used the organization’s money to take trips to Las Vegas as early as 2004 and pay for cell phones, dance lessons and summer camps for other family members, as well as handguns and other items for their personal use.

The organization raised bout $1 million between 2004 and 2009 money using the Florida telemarketing company Zentel that focused its work in Ohio.

Zentel took 85 percent to 90 percent of the profits, and the narcotics association received the rest. The organization’s stated purpose for the money was to educate police officers and the public on drug abuse.

But complaints about the organization eventually reached Sheriff Thomas Altiere and were turned over to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.

Leshnack was ordered to repay $33,000 and spend 90 days in the Geauga County Jail beginning Nov. 7 for his role in the thefts.

Both men resigned from the sheriff’s department in November after Altiere threatened to fire them.

Pizzulo was lead detective on a double murder in Newton Township in December 2005 that resulted in a life prison sentence for Jermaine McKinney of Youngstown.

runyan@vindy.com