Teacher’s trial
RAVENNA The trial for a West Branch teacher accused of sexual contact with a minor has been delayed again.
The criminal pretrial and jury trial for Matthew Thomas, 51, Wagner Road, North Benton, were both continued in Portage County court after a member of his household tested positive for Covid-19. The pretrial, which was set for Wednesday, is now scheduled for March 23 while the jury trial has been moved to April 6. The pretrial and jury trial were delayed in November, as well.
Thomas, a longtime soccer coach and history teacher at West Branch High School, was indicted by the Portage County grand jury in September on two counts of gross sexual imposition, a third-degree felony. He is accused of having sexual contact with a 10-year-old female over the first week of May 2015. The incident was not school-related, according to court officials.
Jan 26, 2021
COLUMBUS The Ohio Supreme Court has accepted imprisoned former Mahoning County judge Diane Vettori’s resignation or retirement from being a lawyer in Ohio.
Vettori, 52, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison in June 2019 for stealing about $100,000 from the estate of a client in her private practice and was ordered to make restitution of $328,000.
Vettori pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud, one count of structuring cash deposits and one count of making false statements to law enforcement.
She was a Mahoning County area court judge serving the Sebring court, but she resigned in January 2018. She was elected judge in 2002 with jurisdiction over misdemeanor criminal and traffic charges and other matters in Sebring and Beloit villages and Berlin, Green, Goshen, Ellsworth, Smith and Washingtonville townships. She was re-elected in 2006 and 2012.
COLUMBUS The Ohio Supreme Court approved the resignation of a former Sebring judge following her conviction in 2019 in a fraud case, according to news partn