YOUNGSTOWN - A special grand jury investigating Mahoning County's purchase of the Oak Hill Renassiance Place issued a 73-count indictment Thursday.
Among those indicted are current Commissioner John McNally and Auditor Michael Sciortino; former Treasurer John Reardon; Anthony Cafaro Sr. and Flora Cafaro; former county Jobs and Family Services Director John Zachariah; and three Cafaro owned businesses, the Ohio Valley Mall Co., the Cafaro Co. and the Marion Plaza, Inc.
The decision by commissioners Anthony Traficanti and David Ludt to purchase the former South Side Hospital in bankruptcy court in 2006 touched off a firestorm of controversy. Reardon, Sciortino and McNally all opposed the purchase as did the Cafaros, because the county was moving the JFS from the Cafaro-owned McGuffey Plaza to Oak Hill.
The Cafaros filed a taxpayer's lawsuit before a visiting judge. During the trial, it was revealed Reardon, Sciortino and McNally had had several conversations and emails with Cafaro officials. Shortly after the trial the Ohio Ethics Commission launched a probe of the purchase.
(More details as they develop)