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U.S. magistrate recommends $200,000 payment order
YOUNGSTOWN
A U.S. magistrate has recommended that a man who purported to be an authorized representative of Mount Calvary Pentecostal Church be ordered to pay nearly $200,000 to a photocopier supplier.
Magistrate George J. Limbert recommended Thursday that Craig A. Gilchrist, whose address was listed as a Tanglewood Drive apartment in Boardman, be ordered to pay a $199,628 debt to the Georgia-based G.E. Capital Information Technology Solutions Inc.
Gilchrist could not be reached to comment.
U.S. District Judge Benita Y. Pearson referred the matter to Limbert for his report and recommendation. She has not acted upon the recommendation.
G.E.’s lawsuit against Gilchrist and the church says Gilchrist signed five-year leases with G.E., totaling more than $2,000 per month, for photocopiers and related accessories on behalf of the church in 2007.
The leases also included charges for copies above a set threshold number and 5 percent late charges for payments more than 10 days overdue.
In its lawsuit, G.E. said Gilchrist falsely claimed to be the church’s chief operating officer and to be authorized to enter into such agreements on behalf of the church.
In his recommendation, Limbert endorsed that assertion by G.E., and the magistrate noted that Gilchrist has not responded to the lawsuit or to a summons served on him Oct. 12 and has failed to appear in court.
A default notice the court sent to Gilchrist in January was returned as undeliverable.
G.E. said in its lawsuit it had been unsuccessful in its attempts to secure payment and return of its equipment from the church, which is on the city’s South Side.
The church’s lawyer, Leo P. Ross of Columbus, said the church does not possess the equipment.
Gilchrist used the equipment in an office in the church, which the church provided him for his business, and that business is long gone from the church, Ross said.
“He had no authority to sign for the church,” Ross said of Gilchrist. Ross said Gilchrist was a church member, but “he had no administrative duties with the church whatsoever.”
The church would house businesses, such as Gilchrist’s, on its premises in a business-incubator format designed to help small startup businesses, Ross explained.
As to Gilchrist’s current whereabouts, Ross said, “We can’t find him.”