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WARREN – A longtime Champion officer was ordered to give up his police credentials and serve two years of probation after his criminal conviction on 16 felony counts of unauthorized use of a state computer network specifically used for criminal investigations.
Robert Koehler, 62, a 34-year veteran of the Champion Police Department, appeared with his attorney Gary Rich for a sentencing hearing today before Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Andrew D. Logan. Logan, in addition to the probation, sentenced Koehler to 100 hours of community service.
The judge admonished Koehler for violating his âposition of trustã and said he still has a prison sentence hanging over him if he doesnát abide by the terms of probation.
The judge also ordered Koehler must forfeit his Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy certification.
“You lost what was important to you, and that is your career as a police officer,” Logan told Koehler.
Koehler, who had pleaded guilty to the charges last September, had served as acting Champion police chief for three months in 2017. He also was previously the police chief in West Farmington and Craig Beach.
Koehler was indicted last year for using the Ohio Attorney General’s computer program called Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway for personal use.
For more on this story, read Wednesday’s Tribune Chronicle.