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WARREN -- Vienna's former fiscal officer is set to proceed to a bench trial Monday, following her rejection of a plea deal and decision to waive her rights to a jury trial on Wednesday.
Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Charles Morrow told Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Cynthia Westcott Rice that there have been "significant discussions" in attempts to reach a resolution in former fiscal officer Linda McCullough's case.
"For purposes, the state's position was going to be to recommend the proposed offering -- whether it's considered an offer now, was having the defendant enter a plea and undergo a presentence investigation," Morrow said. "The state's position would be recommending a prison sentence at sentencing. "Mr. (J. Gerald) Ingram has suggested that his client is not amenable in accepting that offer."
In relation to that rejection, Morrow said Ingram, McCullough's attorney, waived having a jury trial -- which they met with the court for approval.
"To describe that as an offer would be stretching the word beyond the Webster meaning," Ingram said. "It's more like a Trumpian ultimatum. Having said that, we will waive the right to a jury trial."
McCullough served as Vienna's fiscal officer from 2019 to early 2024. She pleaded not guilty in early March to a superseding indictment charging her with three additional counts of tampering with records.
The additional charges followed 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.
McCullough's jury trial was initially set for May 12, but it was moved because state investigators had mandatory training.
Vienna Trustee Phil Pegg said McCullough continues to show "no remorse."
"It's that simple; we'll know more after Monday. She thinks she's gonna walk and I don't think, there's no way that can happen," Pegg said. "The records show she took the money. I don't know what she's thinking. I don't want to know. But I believe she'll be found guilty on Monday.
I believe that she's gonna try to say that the trustees knew and approved of what she was doing, and there's no truth whatsoever of that -- she did that 100% on her own."