Second officer pleads guilty to falsification

Staff report

WARREN

The second of three corrections officers charged with eavesdropping on their supervisors at the Trumbull County jail, using an intercom system, has entered a guilty plea in court.

Robert J. Rihel Jr., 46, of Leavittsburg, pleaded guilty Thursday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to 13 counts of misdemeanor falsification.

He will be sentenced after the Trumbull County Adult Probation Department conducts a presentence investigation. He could get up to six months in jail on each count.

Another corrections officer, Barbara Ruggieri, 45, of Warren, was sentenced earlier to probation after her guilty plea to a single misdemeanor falsification charge.

A third corrections officer, Timothy J. Billock, 45, of Newton Falls, is awaiting trial Aug. 1 on six counts of interception of wire, oral or electronic communications.

Ruggieri resigned her job at the jail. Rihel and Billock are on unpaid administrative leave.