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$2M bond set for man charged in bomb scare at Betras office
By ROBERT CONNELLY
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. Reighard’s lawyer had asked for a $10,000 bond and electronic home monitoring.
“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.
Both Betras and Desmond discussed why Reighard was sending letters to Betras. It stems from a case in which Betras represented him in the late 1990s, they said. Reighard was involved in a workers’ compensation lawsuit against General Motors in the 1980s alleging that paint fumes did harm to him while working at the Lordstown facility.
His attorney in that case was Mark Colucci, whom he threatened in the late 1990s, according to Vindicator files.
He also was convicted of damaging six vehicles at the Lordstown plant after breaking into it, according to Vindicator files. He also threatened the former president of the United Auto Workers Local 1112, Jim Graham.
Betras represented him several times during this time frame.
“What concerned us the most is that over this time period, it’s gone from just words to actions and it was escalating to the point where he was posing a real threat to not only Mr. Betras, but to his family,” Desmond said.
Betras, chairman of the Mahoning County Democratic Party, was present and said after the arraignment he was happy with the bond amount. He also provided media with a copy of a letter Reighard sent him this week, after the bomb scare.
That letter read: “Our boss is very upset with you. The boss told us to do something to get your attention David, so did the pipe bomb get your attention David.”
It continued, “David the next boom will be three inches by twelve inches long and it will go off at your house when your family is there.”