Non-prosecution agreement calls for dismissal of suit against McNally, attorney argues

CLEVELAND

The attorney for Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally, one of three defendants in the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal-corruption case, has filed another motion seeking to dismiss charges against her client.

This time, Atty. Lynn Maro wrote that McNally, when he was a Mahoning County commissioner, among others, signed an agreement in September 2007 after a civil case involving the county’s purchase of Oakhill.

“The agreement was a complete release of any issues and claims relating to Mahoning County civil litigation involving the purchase of Oakhill,” Maro wrote in a Tuesday filing.

Quoting the agreement, Maro wrote: “None of the parties of this agreement will solicit or intentionally persuade any individual to initiate any legal action against either any other party to this agreement or their respective employees and agents” related to Oakhill.

Maro wrote that county Prosecutor Paul J. Gains, who signed the “non-prosecution” agreement, cannot then seek to prosecute McNally, who also signed the document.

“Having made such an agreement, if a prosecutor breaches the promise of a non-prosecution, the court may grant the defendant’s request” to dismiss the indictment, Maro wrote.

Dan Tierney, spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, said, “This latest motion to dismiss is frivolous and meritless. This is another tactic to delay the start of this corruption trial.”

Read more about this latest in the case in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.