Youngstown’s mayor and the former Mahoning County commissioner have pleaded guilty to charges in a decade-long corruption scandal. But, as WKSU’s M.L. Schultze reports for Ohio Public Radio, the plea deal reached today will allow the mayor to run for re-election next year.
Mayor John McNally pleaded guilty to four high-level misdemeanors including falsification and attempted unlawful influence of a public official. All are tied to his time as a Mahoning County commissioner, when he and now-former Auditor Michael Sciortino were accused to trying to steer the county away from buying a building and moving county operations from offices owned by a powerful developer.
McNally says the questions he raised were legitimate then, and he’s done a good job as mayor since.
"My term ends the end of ‘17, and I intend to seek re-election next year. So for me it’s back to work at the city with a lot of good employees and a lot of good department heads come Monday morning.”
The charges Sciortino pleaded guilty to include a felony. Both men are to be sentenced next month, and prosecutors have agreed not to seek prison time.
