Extrudex execs move to plea, sentencing in case

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

One Extrudex Aluminum executive federally indicted for covering up the circumstances surrounding the death of a plant worker has pleaded guilty.

A second executive indicted simultaneously is expected to plead guilty this week.

Brian K. Carder, of Stow, who was the Mahoning Avenue plant’s general manager at the time, pleaded guilty last week to a count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, federal court records show.

Paul Love, of Lake Milton, who was the plant’s safety coordinator, is expected to change his initial plea of not guilty at a hearing set for Friday.

Like Carder, Love faces counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice and obstruction of proceedings. Love also faces one count of making false statements to law enforcement.

The indictment alleges Carder and Love lied to investigators from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, withheld an email regarding the machinery’s safety and persuaded other workers to recant their previous statements about the machinery’s safety, “including by suggesting their jobs might be in jeopardy.”

John J. Tomlin Jr., 21, of Niles, was killed at the plant in October 2012 when racks containing hot aluminum product weighing between 4,000 and 5,000 pounds that he was pushing on a conveyor tipped over, crushing him.

Carder is set to be sentenced Oct. 15 at the federal courthouse in Cleveland.