Austintown brothel case will go to grand jury

Staff report

Austintown

The case against a township woman accused of running a brothel will be presented to a Mahoning County grand jury today.

Susan Sackela, of South Saratoga Avenue, was charged in September after an 18-month investigation into allegations she was running a brothel out of a home at 4744 Mahoning Ave., police said.

Assistant County Prosecutor Ken Cardinal said Sackela, 58, will have her case bound over to the grand jury through direct presentment. She previously pleaded innocent in Austintown court to two charges of promoting prostitution and a charge of procuring.

Police Chief Robert Gavalier said previously that a search of the home revealed a fully stocked bar and a room with a dancer’s pole.

He said that many of the girls who lived in the Mahoning Avenue home and worked for Sackela were local, but some came from out of town.

“They’d stay for about a week before they could leave again,” he said. “This was to keep the activity level down.”

Sackela was scheduled for a pretrial hearing Wednesday in Mahoning County Area Court in Austintown, which was canceled.