WARREN — A Trumbull County grand jury has issued a superseding indictment against Vienna’s former fiscal officer, introducing new charges Wednesday.

Linda McCullough, who served as fiscal officer from 2019 to early 2024, faces three additional charges of tampering with records. The additional charges follow an indictment from October that charged her with two counts of theft in office, four counts of tampering with records and a charge of telecommunications fraud.

Specifically, the previous indictment accused McCullough of using her elected position to pay personal credit card bills as well as personal and private business charges at several stores, including Pitt Stop Drive Thru, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Tractor Supply and Partzilla.

The previous indictment also alleged McCullough electronically transferred the money from township bank accounts, and created, entered and submitted false records to conceal the transactions.

The new indictment alleges McCullough tampered with records between Aug. 6, 2021, and March 21, 2024.

The value of the property or service stolen is $116,370, according to the new indictment.

McCullough is scheduled to be arraigned 1:30 p.m. March 5 before Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Cynthia Westcott Rice, the same day her pretrial on the previous charges was to take place.

The decision to postpone her court hearing from Jan. 22 came after her attorney, J. Gerald Ingram, said there were lots of bank transactions and he needed more time to review them.

Ingram was not available for comment about her new charges Wednesday afternoon, according to his law office.

The township announced $1.3 million was reported missing in February 2023, explaining they didn’t have money to pay their employees. Two police officers and three firefighters were laid off, and officials intended to forgo salaries until the situation was resolved.

Trustees found more than $1 million was transferred from the township’s money market account to its checking over the past year, leaving several hundred thousand dollars in outstanding bills.

Trustees weren’t aware of the fiscal status of the township up to that point, according to previous reports.

The trustees requested McCullough be removed for “failure to perform her fiscal duties.” She ultimately resigned, not leaving a trained replacement in her place.

Rhonda Root, who took over for her in May, resigned two months after replacing her, citing physical and mental exhaustion but thanking trustees for the opportunity to serve the township. Corinne Hardman was sworn in as fiscal officer a month later but resigned effective Nov. 30.

Trustees swore in Jason Miner, who came from Warren Township to serve as Vienna’s deputy fiscal officer in November, as their new fiscal officer in January.

McCullough defended the missing funds in March and claimed that it was spent on the fire department’s overtime and on equipment. She added she brought the issue of overtime spending to the attention of township trustees.

The Ohio Auditor’s Office placed Vienna in fiscal emergency in July after confirming the township was more than $1 million in debt but approved a plan to get them out of it by 2027 at a December fiscal commission meeting.

Trustee Phil Pegg, who took off work to appear at McCullough’s Jan. 22 pretrial, said that while the new charges are just a few more, they expect more before everything settles.

“I understand that she will be arraigned on March 5, which again pushes the trial back,” Pegg said. “And our question remains the same; how come she has not been booked, fingerprinted and photographed? She has already left the state once. They’re not keeping track of her over there, so we’d like to see more done.”

Pegg said he hadn’t seen the new indictment that alleged McCullough tampered with records between August 6, 2021, and March 21, 2024, but added he believes her actions go “clear back” to 2020.