Former Youngstown Mayor Charles Sammarone and ex-city Finance Director David Bozanich were indicted on criminal charges, including bribery and tampering with evidence.

The two were charged in the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Thursday. 

A release from the Ohio Attorney General's Office says the indictment is part of an ongoing public corruption probe of alleged activity that includes a Poland businessman who was previously indicted on corruption charges last year.

The office says the indictment also serves as a superseding indictment for Dominic Marchionda, 58, of Poland, and his affiliated businesses, which were previously indicted on October of last year.

The charges included Engaging in a Pattern of Corrupt Activity, Aggravated Theft, Money Laundering, Receiving Stolen Property, Tampering with Records and Telecommunications Fraud.

According to the Attorney General's Office, the indictment includes new charges of Theft pertaining to insurance funds for the Legal Arts building and Money Laundering for laundering the stolen insurance funds related to the Legal Arts building.

Sammarone served as Mayor of Youngstown from 2011 to 2013. The indictment alleges that Sammarone solicited and received recurring cash payments from a vendor in return for steering projects to the company.

According to the indictment, "Sammarone is heard in a 2014 recording repeatedly stating that he is 'old school' and that anything is legal if no one else knows about it."

Bozanich served as Finance Director of Youngstown until December 2017. The indictment alleges that Bozanich received benefits from several individuals and in return agreed to assist in securing public funding from the city for economic development projects, including Marchionda’s.

According to the indictment, benefits to Bozanich came in the form of "cash, golf fees, meals, trips, and other benefits." The indictment says over a ten year period, the benefits exceeded 125,000 dollars.

“The people of Youngstown deserve to have confidence in their elected officials, but the indictments announced today show a repeated pattern of bribery and corrupt activity,” said Attorney General Mike DeWine. “There has been tremendous cooperation in this case from my office,  Auditor of State Dave Yost, Prosecutor Paul Gains, Sheriff Jerry Green and others who have worked hard to bring these charges to light in order to seek justice.”   

Auditor Dave Yost added, “These indictments should make clear to the people of the Mahoning Valley that our investigators and forensic auditors will not relent until we’ve taken down the last crook standing. The abuses we’ve uncovered are maddening, especially for an area of our state that has been challenged economically."

The ongoing case is being investigated by the Ohio Auditor of State’s Public Integrity Assurance Team with the assistance of the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department. The Ohio Attorney General's Office is serving as a special assistant prosecutor with Mahoning County in this case.

“Our work here is not complete, and we will continue to partner with Attorney General DeWine and the Mahoning County sheriff and prosecutor in this investigation until we’ve rooted out all of the corruption in the valley," Yost said.

According to the attorney general's office, 

Former Mayor Charles Sammarone, 75, of Youngstown, was indicted on the following charges:

  • One count of Engaging in a Pattern of Corrupt Activity, a felony of the first degree
  • Nine counts of Bribery, felonies of the third degree
  • Three counts of Tampering with Records, felonies of the third degree
  • One count of Falsification, a misdemeanor of the first degree

Former Finance Director David Bozanich, 61, of Youngstown, was indicted on the following charges:

  • One count of Engaging in a Pattern of Corrupt Activity, a felony of the first degree
  • Two counts of Aggravated Theft, felonies of the first degree
  • 15 counts of Bribery, felonies of the third degree
  • One count of Obstructing Justice, a felony of the fifth degree

Sammarone declined to comment, saying at this point he had not seen the indictment. 21 News was unable to reach Dave Bozanich.

Mayor Tito Brown released a statement Friday on the indictments.

He said that administration is working hard to change the culture and that taxpayers deserve an honest government.

"I am mindful that an indictment is an allegation and my administration will let the judicial system work as it should," Tito said. "However, anytime an allegation is made, it makes it more difficult to convince prospective investors to locate or relocate in our beautiful city. 

Tito said he is embarrassed an angry that a former administration may have used the city for personal gain.