Ex-Cafaro aide pleads guilty to theft

WARREN — Jonathan M. Wike Jr., 30, former district director for State Sen. Capri Cafaro, has pleaded guilty to stealing $75,000 from Cafaro and $13,331 from his grandmother – who was 89 at the time – and his mother.

Wike, of Stepney Street in Niles, appeared today before Judge Ronald Rice of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court and pleaded guilty to grand theft and attempted theft from a person in a protected class.

His grandmother's age puts her in a protected class, prosecutors said.

Paying back the $75,000 that was taken will be a condition of his probation, Judge Rice said.

He will be sentenced in about four weeks, after the Trumbull County Adult Probation Department conducts a presentence investigation.

Both charges are fourth-degree felonies, punishable by up to 18 months in prison, but prison is not presumed necessary or mandatory.

Wike was making about $35,000 per year before Cafaro fired him in July 2015.