LIMA — Former Lima City Councilman and local bar owner Ray Magnus filed a lawsuit against Sheriff Sam Crish seeking $102,000 he said is owed.
Magnus does not identify Crish as the sheriff of Allen County but list Samuel A. Crish of McBride Road in Delphos as the defendant. Magnus is seeking $102,000 he said he let Crish borrow plus an additional $25,000 in punitive damages, along with attorney fees and legal costs, according to records filed in Allen County Common Pleas Court late Friday.
Magnus said Monday Crish is a friend and he agreed to help him out.
“When he borrowed it originally it was to pay off some of his business debt supposedly on that business place he had on West Elm,” Magnus said.
Magnus referenced a business Crish began after former Sheriff Dan Beck asked Crish and Steve Hoverman to leave the Sheriff’s Office in 2008 when both announced they would run for sheriff to replace Beck who chose not to run again.
Crish eventually beat Hoverman but resigned from the Sheriff’s Office in early 2008 to campaign. Crish also started a business because he was not old enough at the time to file or collect retirement.
“He was a friend. He asked. I had him sign the loan,” Magnus said. “I filed the lawsuit to basically protect myself.”
Magnus said he would dismiss the lawsuit if Crish begins paying again and shows he can continue to pay. Magnus said he borrowed against a property he owns to obtain the loan for Crish.
“Sam and I are friends. We will always be friends. I just have to protect myself,” Magnus said.
Crish’s attorney Mike Rumer could not be reached for comment Monday.
Magnus said he gave Crish a loan of $100,000 on Jan. 2, 2013, and provided a promissory note from Citizens National Bank of Bluffton that he took out to lend the money to Crish. Crish, in turn, signed a promissory note with Magnus agreeing to pay back the money, according to court records.
Crish made regular monthly payments of $1,251.26 from January 2013 until July 2016 leaving an outstanding balance of $60,809, according to court records.
In July, Crish asked Magnus to borrow another $102,000, in part to be used to pay off the balance of $60,809 he owed Magnus plus more than $40,000 additional, according to court records.
Magnus took out another loan on Aug. 10 for $102,000 from Citizens National Bank of Bluffton. Crish signed another promissory note agreeing to pay Magnus the $102,000, according to court records.
Magnus said Crish is in default of the terms of their payment agreement, which is the reason he filed the lawsuit. Magnus also is seeking interest at a rate of 4.69 percent. Magnus also is accusing Crish of fraud.
“Plaintiff states that Defendant, at the time he executed the Promissory Note, never intended to pay back Plaintiff,” Magnus said in the lawsuit.
One of the promissory notes signed by Crish looks like a legal contract with various terms to ensure repayment, address interest and other issues over six pages. The second is one page handwritten with Crish signing it with “sheriff Allen County” under his name.
Crish remains away from the Sheriff’s Office with no date set for his return. His attorney, Mike Rumer, issued a written statement at Crish’s request almost two weeks ago saying Crish was in an inpatient treatment program for an unidentified “serious personal issue.”
That announcement came after the FBI served a search warrant on Crish’s office at the Sheriff’s Office on Sept. 7. The FBI confirmed it was at the Sheriff’s Office but a spokeswoman said records associated with that or any announcement would not be released for a month or two. The spokeswoman declined further comment.
Crish is on the ballot unopposed in November. He first was elected in 2008.
Earlier this year, convicted drug dealer Demond Liles said in an appeal he let Crish borrow $20,000 from him then Crish used the drug task force to entrap Liles into committing felony drug crimes. Liles said Crish did that to get out of paying his debt. Crish said at the time there was no truth to the allegations and declined further comment.
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