Tom Stinebaugh, former mayor of Wapakoneta, is now barred from holding public office following his conviction Saturday on two felony counts and three misdemeanor charges. Jurors deliberated for more than eight hours over two days before finding Stinebaugh guilty of five of 11 counts against him. He was sentenced by Judge Patricia Cosgrove to 18 months in prison but remains free on bond pending appeal.
J Swygart | The Lima News
WAPAKONETA —Tom Stinebaugh, the one-time mayor of Wapakoneta, was found to have broken the law by using his position for personal gain.
After an Auglaize County jury deliberated for more than eight hours over two days and ultimately returned guilty verdicts on five of 11 charges brought about against Stinebaugh by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, visiting Judge Patricia Cosgrove on Saturday sentenced the former mayor to 18 months in prison.
Stinebaugh, who as a convicted felon can no longer hold elected office, remained free on bond after defense attorneys announced they would appeal the verdict and the sentence.
Following four days of testimony, the jury on Friday afternoon began to debate the 11 felony and misdemeanor charges against Stinebaugh that included theft in office, conflict of interest and having an unlawful interest in public contracts. Jurors halted their deliberations at 7:30 p.m. Friday and returned to the Auglaize County courthouse at 9 a.m. Saturday. Shortly after 12:30 p.m. the foreman announced verdicts had been reached.
Stinebaugh was convicted on one count of having an unlawful interest in a public contract, a fourth-degree felony; theft in office, downgraded from a third- to a fifth-degree felony; and three counts of conflict of interest.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison for the fourth-degree felony, a charge related to a sewer line which was installed by the City of Wapakoneta at Stinebaugh’s direction to a home which he had constructed. Testimony during the trial said such an occurrence was not in keeping with city ordinances and past practices which required developers to pay for the installation of sewer lines.
Cosgrove sentenced Stinebaugh to one year in prison on the theft in office charge and six months in the county jail on each of the three misdemeanor conflict of interest convictions. The sentences were ordered to be served concurrently, leaving the former mayor with a cumulative 18-month prison term.
Special prosecutors from the office of Attorney General Dave Yost throughout the trial claimed the mayor engaged in nepotism when he appointed his brother as acting chief of the Wapakoneta Fire Department and assisted a business owned by his sister in receiving contract work for the city. He was also alleged to have illegally entered into a contract through his private business to do work for a company who had been lured through a financial incentive package to locate in Ohio.
In her closing arguments to jurors, Special Prosecutor Laura Dezort said Stinebaugh had been interviewed by representatives of the Ohio Ethics Committee following alleged illegalities early in his tenure as mayor. Dezort said that despite the knowledge he was under investigation Stinebaugh continued to engage in illegal dealings as mayor.
Following his indictment in August of 2021, Stinebaugh was suspended from his duties as mayor by a three-judge panel appointed by Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor.
