Bond for former client set at $2M after bomb scare at Betras law office

CANFIELD

Charles J. Reighard’s bond is $2 million cash or surety related to the Oct. 16 bomb scare at the Betras law office.

No pleas were entered during the 67-year-old’s first court appearance on the felony charges of extortion, retaliation, two counts of inducing panic and vandalism.

Mike McBride, a Mahoning County assistant prosecutor, said the reason the bond is high is “because of the danger the defendant poses not only to attorney [David] Betras, but also to his family. Items which could be used to perpetuate a violent crime were found in the defendant’s possession, and this has been an ongoing concern.”

Reighard’s lawyer asked Judge Scott Hunter for a lower bond due to the “rather low-level offenses” on a felony level, and he also thought it was a “clearly excessive bond.”

Mahoning County sheriff’s deputies arrested Reighard on Thursday morning at his state Route 7 home in Burghill in northern Trumbull County. They used a search warrant and found pipe, the same color wick from the nonexplosive bomb found at the Betras, Kopp & Harshman LLC law office on Seville Drive, and unsent letters in a trash can.

Martin Desmond, an assistant prosecutor, said after the arraignment that no explosives were found at Reighard’s home and further explained the rationale for the bond amount.

“We are fearful that based on the last letter sent to Mr. Betras that the defendant was indeed going to take action at this time, so we’re doing what we can to prevent that,” Desmond said.

Read more about the threat and the case in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.