Fitch HOF theft case bound over to common pleas court

AUSTINTOWN

The case of funds stolen from Austintown Fitch Hall of Fame was assigned to the Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas Wednesday.

The transfer came after Martin P. Dyer, 55, of Maplecrest Drive, waived his preliminary hearing in Mahoning County Area Court here. He is alleged to have taken $13,809.86 from the Fitch HOF bank account and faces a fourth-degree felony for grand theft in the case.

The HOF group was founded by Tim Kelty, who was part of a five-person committee that ran the group for several years. Kelty was joined by Dyer, Jerry Bruff, Patrick Smrek and Eddie Kohl after the group's first banquet in 2007. Kelty and Smrek left the group between the 2013 and 2014 banquets, which have been at Immaculate Heart of Mary annually.

The HOF is an outside organization, but Austintown schools approved the group using its name, though they did not have oversight of the group.

Dyer took over the group after Kelty and Smrek left and is alleged to have forged Kelty’s signature on checks totaling $13,809.86.

Read more about the case in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.