Former Traficant aide charged with theft

CANFIELD — Linda Kovachik, 69, a former aide to the late U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., is charged with theft for purportedly taking more than $100,000 from a Canfield woman with dementia.

Officers arrested Kovachik of Flagler Lane, Boardman, this morning.

According to the police report, Kovachik befriended an 89-year-old woman with dementia in 2013 and offered to help manage the elderly woman’s finances.

Police said from then until mid-2015, Kovachik withdrew more than $100,000 in the woman’s bank accounts, savings bonds and annuities. No arraignment date has been set.

Kovachik, a longtime friend of the Traficant family, served as an aide to the late congressman for several years. Traficant died in 2014 after an accident at his Green Township farm.