Ex-car dealer fails to show up for sentencing

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The owner of a former city car dealership who was convicted of conspiracy to engage in a pattern of corrupt activity has been ordered to appear in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court or face sanctions.

Jonathan Smail, 24, Jackson Street, Campbell, owner of Fat Man’s Auto Sales, pleaded guilty to the felony charge earlier this year. He was due in court for sentencing Thursday morning.

Smail could be sentenced to up to five years on the charge.

Prosecutors, in a plea deal, have agreed to stand silent on any sentencing recommendation.

Smail was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday by Judge John M. Durkin, but Smail did not show up to court for the sentencing hearing. Jim Melone, his attorney, and Natasha Frenchko, an assistant county prosecutor, waited more than an hour for Smail to appear.

Frenchko said the court has given Smail 24 hours to make an appearance for his sentencing or face sanctions.

Smail was indicted on multiple charges after an investigation of Fat Man’s Auto Sales in 2009. The investigation included agents and officers from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles and Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Smail later entered a guilty plea to the charge of conspiracy to engage in a pattern of corrupt activity.

Numerous other people also were indicted on a variety of charges associated with the dealership.