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Plea deal reached in Fat Man’s case
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
YOUNGSTOWN
A principal defendant in the Fat Man’s Auto Sales corruption case has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
All other charges against Michael Mrosko, 33, of Grandview Avenue, Struthers, were dropped.
Mrosko pleaded guilty Tuesday before Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who will sentence him at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 15.
Dawn Cantalamessa, an assistant county prosecutor, recommended a four-year prison term for Mrosko. The available prison sentencing range is one to five years in prison, and Mrosko could be fined up to $10,000.
In the plea agreement, Cantalamessa dropped 127 other counts against him, including numerous motor vehicle offenses, theft and tampering with records counts.
Mrosko is one of six defendants in the 135-count, 47-page indictment in the Fat Man’s case.
“I want to get everyone their titles. ... I want to make sure everything’s taken care of,” Mrosko told the judge before entering his plea.
“I’m sure the position of the state is going to be a lot kinder and gentler if you are able to make whole the victims in this case,” the judge replied.
Complaints about the former Canfield Road car dealership ranged from lack of vehicle titles to unpaid Ohio sales taxes. Fat Man’s has been closed since a multijurisdictional law enforcement raid there last October.
Judge Durkin will sentence another principal defendant in the case, Jonathan Smail, 24, of Jackson Street, Campbell, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in a pattern of corrupt activity, at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 16. Dana Lantz, an assistant city prosecutor, had earlier characterized the defendants’ activities at the dealership as “an ongoing criminal conspiracy.”