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Former Traficant aide pleads guilty to felony theft
By Justin Wier
YOUNGSTOWN
A former congressional aide and close friend to the late U.S. Rep. James Traficant, who was convicted of 10 felonies, now has a felony conviction of her own.
Linda Kovachik, 70, of Flagler Lane, pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony theft charge for stealing from a 76-year-old woman with dementia.
Prosecutors reduced the degree of the felony because Kovachik cooperated in a civil suit and helped her victim recover money from J.P. Morgan Chase Bank.
The details of the civil settlement were not made public.
Prosecutors also dismissed four charges of forgery.
Police who investigated the case said Kovachik stole more than $100,000.
Prosecutors will ask for a prison term at sentencing, which is scheduled for Jan. 18 at 2 p.m. She could face up to three years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
Her defense attorney did not agree to the recommendation.
Kovachik worked for Traficant from 1985 through 1990 and again from 2000 until he was expelled from Congress in July 2002.
During Traficant’s trial for racketeering and bribery, she was by his side every day, and she resumed her role as a close confidante when he was released from prison in 2009.
Investigators said she used that relationship to discourage her victim’s neighbors from getting involved when they raised concerns.
Kovachik befriended the victim in 2013 after the elderly woman confided in her at church on the West Side of Youngstown that she thought her children were stealing her money, investigators said. She then gained power of attorney over the woman’s financial accounts.
She told investigators the money went toward a gambling addiction.
At one point, she took the victim – and money she took from the victim – to Las Vegas, investigators said.
The thefts occurred between October 2013, when Kovachik gained financial power of attorney over the woman, and December 2015, according to the indictment.
While the victim’s civil suit against J.P. Morgan Chase Bank has been settled and dismissed, a civil claim against Kovachik remains open.