Cincinnati City Councilman Wendell Young entered a plea of not guilty on Thursday.
Young, a Democrat, was indicted earlier this month with the felony tampering charge and is facing up to three years in prison.
In a statement, Patrick Hanley, the special prosecutor who has been investigating Young for more than a year, said that between January and October of 2018, Young knowingly and with the purpose to defraud, destroyed text messages that belonged to a government entity.
Last week, Hanley told Fox 19 he plans to ask the Ohio Supreme Court to initiate suspension proceedings against Young.
Under state law, Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor would then appoint a panel of judges to review evidence in the case and decide whether to suspend Young.
Sarah Ramsey
Cincinnati Council Member Wendell Young is pleading not guilty to a tampering with records charge. Young filed the plea in the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Thursday.
The investigation stems from text messages exchanged between Young and four other council members in 2018. The group discussed and made decisions about city business, in violation of Ohio s Sunshine Law.
Hanley says Young further violated the law by deleting some of those text messages.
Young told several local media outlets he deleted the messages before an order not to do so, but after turning them over to the city solicitor s office and seeing them published in the media.
Issue 3 is a charter amendment that would require the city to devote at least $50 million a year toward affordable housing, with the amount rising each year with inflation. There is no set funding mechanism for the amendment, which is perhaps the largest sticking point for the opposition.
Josh Spring, executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition and one of the main proponents of the amendment, said he is not at all surprised each of the three political parties is against Issue 3. Housing advocates have been going to those same political parties and elected officials for years asking for help, Spring said, “so it’s not a surprise that the folks we have been going and having those discussions with would continue to not step up to the call.”
Tri-State leaders call for peaceful response to Chauvin verdict
âThis verdict is a necessary step in the healing process that our nation must endure.â
Local reactions begin to pour in after guilty verdict announced in murder trial of George Floyd By FOX19 Digital Staff | April 20, 2021 at 5:20 PM EDT - Updated April 20 at 7:02 PM
CINCINNATI (FOX19) - Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot K. Isaac issued a statement on Tuesday evening calling for peace after a Minnesota judge announced the guilty verdict in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd. FULL STORY |
âI have said multiple times before that I denounce the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May of 2020 by former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. I understood the angst that came the days, weeks and months following the death of Mr. Floyd. As both a Black man and a police officer, I too was angry.â
Jennifer Edwards Baker | FOX 19
CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - A special prosecutor tells FOX19 NOW he plans to ask the Ohio Supreme Court to initiate suspension proceedings against Cincinnati City Councilman Wendell Young following his felony indictment.
“I think so. You have an elected official who committed a felony. It’s just appropriate he be suspended,” Patrick Hanley said Wednesday morning.
Hanley said he plans to file motions with the Ohio Supreme Court either this week or next week for sure to begin that process.
Under state law, Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor would then appoint a panel of judges to review evidence in the case and decide whether to suspend Young.