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Man to forfeit business assets
By Elise Franco
AUSTINTOWN
Anthony Jeswald avoided jail time but was ordered to forfeit nearly $100,000 in assets linked to the investigation of his towing business.
Jeswald, owner of Jeswald Towing on Mahoning Avenue in Austintown, was charged Monday with unauthorized use of property after a six-month investigation by township police and the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
He pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge Wednesday in Mahoning County Area Court in Austintown.
Police served a search warrant Feb. 7 after an investigation that began in November 2010 into why vehicles towed by Jeswald for the police department seemed to go to the junk yard without proper authorization.
Assistant County Prosecutor Ken Cardinal said between 2008 and 2010, Jeswald illegally junked 239 cars, making a $400 profit per vehicle.
“We calculated it out to the nearest penny to what he benefited by in smashing those cars,” Cardinal said.
As a part of the plea agreement, Jeswald was ordered to forfeit $93,578.06 in assets obtained during that two-year period.
The business owner was also sentenced to 180 days in county jail with 180 days suspended.
He was fined $1,000 and placed on non-reporting probation for two years, visiting Judge Scott Hunter said during court Wednesday.
Jeswald and his attorney Dominic Frank declined to comment outside the courthouse.
Police Chief Bob Gavalier the prosecutor decided on the misdemeanor charge because a more serious felony charge would have likely caused the towing company to go under.
“A felony would have put them out of business,” Gavalier said. “[Cardinal] didn’t want to do that.”
Cardinal said Jeswald Towing will remain open, though the police department removed the business from its impound service after the initial investigation began.
“It makes absolutely no good sense to wipe out an entire business that was built over two decades just because these guys did a numbskull [thing,]” he said.
Gavalier said the department still has about 50 vehicles previously impounded by the company that need proper disposal.
“We’re going to go back down and check that he goes through the paperwork,” he said.
“But I don’t think he’s going to try and pull anything now.”