Sciortino gets 4-6 months incarceration for illegally using county computers

YOUNGSTOWN — A judge sentenced ex-Mahoning County Auditor Michael V. Sciortino to four to six months incarceration at a halfway house today for illegally using county computers for his re-election efforts.

Sciortino had faced up to 18 months in prison for the two convictions of unauthorized use of property (computer or telecommunication property).

He was immediately taken into custody and will serve the sentence at the Community Corrections Association. After he is released, he will serve two years of probation.

A special prosecutor with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office agreed not to make a recommendation to Visiting Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove, who oversaw Sciortino’s case, on the former county auditor’s sentencing.

Sciortino, a Democrat from Austintown, took a plea deal Feb. 26 to resolve this case and another one in Cuyahoga County related to the Oakhill Renaissance Place corruption scandal.

In the Cuyahoga County case, Sciortino received a sentence of one year’s probation after pleading guilty to one felony and two misdemeanors. He originally faced 11 felonies and six misdemeanors in that case.

In Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, Sciortino originally faced 25 felonies: 21 counts of unauthorized use of property (computer or telecommunication property) and four counts of theft in office.

Prosecutors said Sciortino illegally used county-owned computers and other equipment more than 300 times for political purposes and his personal DJ/band business and law practice, and had three employees help him.

The deal had him plead guilty to illegally using a county computer twice for golf fundraisers in 2010 and 2012 for his political campaigns.

Sciortino was appointed by the Mahoning County Democratic Party in September 2005 to fill the vacant county auditor position. He was elected to full four-year terms in 2006 and 2010. Sciortino lost a re-election bid in 2014 while under indictment in Cuyahoga County for his involvement in the Oakhill scandal.

Sciortino was accused of being part of a criminal enterprise to illegally stop or impede Mahoning County’s purchase of Oakhill, the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center.

For the complete story, read Thursday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com