Tom Stinebaugh had his first court appearance Tuesday morning and entered a not guilty plea on eight counts of unlawful interest in a public contract, and one count of theft in office. The remaining eight counts are misdemeanors of conflict of interest. No additional court dates have been set in his case.
According to the Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, the reason there was an investigation into Stinebaugh is because of alleged public corruption charges related to business dealings that he conducted while in his elected position. Those offenses took place between 2016 and 2019 and involved entering into contracts with family members and a business partner. It is also accuses Stinebaugh had the city pay for a sewer line on a property that his private company is developing.
