Attorney: Statute of limitations has tolled in YSU payroll scandal

Staff report

Youngstown

The attorney representing the man at the center of a Youngstown State University payroll scandal argues that the statute of limitations has tolled on six of the charges against his client.

Atty. J. Gerald Ingram, who represents Ivan Maldonado, argued Wednesday before Visiting Judge Thomas Pokorny in Mahoning County Com-mon Pleas Court that the theft-by-deception charges have six-year or two-year statutes of limitations and were filed after those dates and should therefore be dismissed.

Robert E. Bush Jr., who is prosecuting the case for the county Prosecutor’s office, countered that the crimes of which Maldonado is accused occurred as a course of conduct. Also, because Maldonado was in a job in which he was in control of documentation submitted to the state, he was the only one who was in a position to know about his activities.

Judge Pokorny allowed the lawyers until Wednesday to submit case law that backs up their arguments after which he will make a ruling.

Maldonado, 44, of Euclid Boulevard, Boardman, is charged with 10 counts of theft, two counts each of falsification and theft in office and one count each of tampering with records and grand theft. He worked as an administrative assistant in the YSU payroll office and also served as president of the Association of Classified Employees union.

He is accused of falsifying information to allow a relative to attend YSU and receive more than $30,000 in free tuition to which he wasn’t entitled.