Mahoning County jail deputy investigated for use of force at jail

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A deputy who works in the Mahoning County jail has been placed on administrative leave because of an investigation into a use-of-force complaint against him involving a jail inmate.

Sheriff Jerry Greene said Monday that Zachary Pasko has been on leave since an inmate at the jail was injured earlier this month.

Greene said the department’s Internal Affairs division is investigating, as is the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

The inmate who was injured had to be hospitalized.

Greene was out of his office when reached Monday and did not have the inmate’s name with him.

The sheriff also did not provide details of what led to the inmate’s injury.

Greene had suspended Pasko, 29, for two weeks after a fight he got into in November at a Boardman bar.

According to a Boardman police report, a patron said Pasko, who lived in Salem at the time, had punched his nose and mouth, leaving a small cut to the accuser’s nose.

Township police arrested Pasko and charged him with misdemeanor assault.

Court records show he changed his plea from not guilty to no contest in that case Dec. 22 in Mahoning County Area Court in Boardman.

Judge Joseph Houser found him guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.

Judge Houser fined him $100 and placed him on probation.

The judge also ordered Pasko to pay more than $700 restitution to the victim in the case. Records show restitution was made in May.