Kovachik gets early release from prison; on five years' probation

YOUNGSTOWN

Judge Anthony D'Apolito today granted an early release from prison for Linda Kovachik, a former aide to U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. who was sentenced to two years in prison for stealing $100,000 from a 76-year-old woman with dementia. 

Kovachik, 70, was placed on five years probation during a judicial release hearing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Kovachik was sentenced in January to the prison term.

Family members and prosecutors opposed her release, but Judge D'Apolito said she has served long enough and her sentence has had a severe physical effect on her.