Maldonado trial gets under way
Maldonado trial gets under way
YOUNGSTOWN
Ivan Maldonado did not benefit financially from the crimes he committed while he worked at Youngstown State University, but his offenses were “hate crimes” against his employer, a prosecutor said this morning.
“He just hated his employer and would do all he could to make its life miserable,” said Robert E. Bush Jr., during his opening statement in Maldonado’s criminal bench trial in the YSU payroll scandal.
However, Maldonado’s lawyer, J. Gerald Ingram, said his client is innocent.
“The testimony and evidence will establish that there’s nothing improper or criminal,” Ingram said. “The evidence will require verdicts of not guilty on all counts,” Ingram said.
Maldonado, 44, of Euclid Boulevard, a former university payroll assistant and former president of the Association of Classified Employees union at YSU, was indicted on 10 counts of theft, two counts each of falsification and theft in office and one count each of tampering with records and grand theft.
The alleges offenses pertain to tuition remission, retirement contributions and a wage garnishment.
The case is being heard by visiting Judge Thomas Pokorny of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.