Jury selection moved up

YOUNGSTOWN

The jury selection date was pushed up for the former Sebring area county judge accused of stealing thousands of dollars in cash and assets from the estate of her deceased client.

Youngstown attorney J. Gerald Ingram, who’s representing suspended judge Diane Vettori-Caraballo, requested jury selection for the March 4 trial be moved up to March 1, so he can make a scheduled, prepaid ski trip with his sons the following week, according to federal court filings. The trial is set to begin March 4 at the federal courthouse in Cleveland.

Prosecutors offered Vettori-Caraballo plea deals in lieu of a trial, and the suspended judge accepted, then later rejected them.

Her husband, former Youngstown police officer Ismael Caraballo, also is charged with filing a false tax return.