Youngstown Water Department employees plead guilty to charges for falsifying their credentials

COLUMBUS

More than two dozen employees of the Youngstown Water Department pleaded guilty today to charges for falsifying their credentials, with a plea deal that includes license suspensions and thousands of dollars in fines and restitution.

The unclassified misdemeanor charges carried potential prison terms of four years and fines up to $10,000.

Each will pay $2,000 in restitution to the city of Youngstown, plus a $1,000 fine to the Franklin County Municipal Court , a $250 court administrative fee and likely other court costs. Some of the workers agreed to perform 50 hours of community service or pay an additional $1,000 instead, their lawyer Charles Dunlap said.

They’ll also have their Environmental Protection Agency licenses suspended for a year.

The workers will have a year to meet the terms of the diversion agreements they signed today.

The agreement also stipulates that they will tell the truth about the case if subpoenaed by a court in any related cases — potentially the instructor of the certification course, Anthony Vigorito.

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