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Former court employee pleads guilty
BOARDMAN
A former Mahoning County Area Court employee pleaded guilty Wednesday to operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and no contest to obstructing official business.
Benito Velazquez Jr., 38, of Youngstown, was a deputy clerk at Mahoning County Area Court in Boardman.
He received a ticket March 5 for operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol from the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Boardman police issued a summons for Velazquez on March 14 on a charge of obstructing official business after it appeared that he had hidden his drunken- driving ticket when the patrol turned it in to the court, according to records.
Velazquez was put on paid leave March 14. He resigned from county employment April 10, said Scott Grossen, administrator for the Clerk of Courts Office.
Velazquez originally pleaded not guilty to both charges. On Wednesday, he pleaded no contest to obstructing official business and was found guilty.
He was sentenced to serve 40 hours of community service and pay a $150 fine and court costs, according to court records.
After pleading to the drunken-driving charge, he was sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 147 days suspended, and he must spend at least three days at an in-patient alcohol treatment facility, said Martin S. Hume, an assistant county prosecutor.
He will also spend 30 days on electronically monitored house arrested and pay a $375 fine, in addition to court and treatment costs, Hume said.
Hume said even though Velazquez received an OVI ticket in December, Velazquez pleaded to a reduced charge at that time, and therefore the March infraction was technically not a second offense.
At the time of his resignation, Velazquez was receiving a $28,000 annual salary and a $14,500 annual benefit package.