Judge won't dismiss charges against former YSU employee

YOUNGSTOWN — A visiting judge has overruled a defense motion to dismiss some of the felony theft charges against Ivan Maldonado in the Youngstown State University payroll scandal case on the grounds that the six-year statute of limitations for their prosecution has expired.

Judge Thomas J. Pokorny of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court ruled today that five felony theft counts, dating back to 1998, 1999 and 2004, will remain pending against Maldonado, 44, of Euclid Boulevard, Boardman.

The judge cited a 2010 Ohio Supreme Court decision saying the six-year time limit begins for felony charges pertaining to fraud only after the evidence of the offense is discovered.

Robert E. Bush Jr., who is prosecuting the case, said in a court filing that the evidence of the alleged offenses wasn’t discovered until September 2009.

The jury trial of Maldonado, a former university payroll assistant and former president of the Association of Classified Employees union at YSU, is set to begin June 18.