Lisa Antonini going to prison Jan. 7

Lisa Antonini going to prison Jan. 7

Lisa Antonini going to prison Jan. 7

Lisa A. Antonini, former Mahoning County treasurer and former Mahoning County Democratic Party chairwoman, must report to the federal prison camp for women in Alderson, W.Va., by noon Jan. 7.

According to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals Service in Cleveland, Antonini will serve five months in that minimum-security prison, under a sentence imposed on her Nov. 13, after she pleaded guilty to a single count of honest services mail fraud for failing to report a $3,000 cash gift on a disclosure form she mailed to the Ohio Ethics Commission.

Honest services fraud alleges a public official devised a scheme to defraud citizens of their right to honest services through bribery and the concealment of material information.

Located in southern West Virginia near the Virginia border, the Alderson facility is in the foothills of the Allegheny mountains and has about 1,200 inmates and a staff of about 180, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons website. Opened in 1927, it was the first federal prison solely for the incarceration of female offenders.

U.S. District Court Judge Sara Lioi, who allowed Antonini to self-report to prison, also sentenced her to two years’ supervised release after prison, with the first five months of it on electronically monitored house arrest.

The judge also fined Antonini $2,000 and ordered her to perform 150 hours of community service during her supervision period.

Antonini admitted taking and failing to report a $3,000 cash gift from a local businessman Jan. 16, 2008, while reporting only a $200 contribution he gave that day by check to her primary campaign for county treasurer.

“In exchange, Antonini continued to support the businessman’s interests and understood she would take official action on his behalf if opportunities arose,” according to the information, to which she pleaded guilty.

Board of elections records show only Anthony M. Cafaro Sr., former Cafaro Co. president, as a contributor of $200 by check to her campaign that day.

Cafaro and his company were not charged with any crime concerning gifts to Antonini or her campaign.

Antonini, 44, of Youngstown, who had no prior criminal record, resigned May 16, 2011, as county treasurer, within hours after the U.S. attorney filed the information containing the charge against her.

Antonini’s plea agreement with the U.S. attorney said she needed to cooperate fully with any federal, state or local investigations and prosecutions, where authorities sought her assistance, if she wanted prosecutors to recommend maximum favorable consideration for her at sentencing.

Justin Roberts, the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted Antonini, recommended leniency because he said she has been cooperating with the authorities.

The sentencing range available to the judge for Antonini ranged from probation to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.