Man arrested outside Katt Williams home convicted of felonoius assault

By Lou Grieco | Wednesday, January 7, 2009, 06:09 PM

DAYTON — A man believed to be a cousin of comedian Katt Williams was convicted of felonious assault on Wednesday Jan. 7.

A jury deliberated for several hours before convicted Robert McGee of felonious assault, carrying concealed weapon and being a felon in possession of a weapon. He was acquitted of an aggravated robbery charge.

McGhee was convicted of shooting Terry A. Martin Jr., 19, in the chest April 24 during a drug deal that went awry on Riverside Drive in Harrison Twp. Martin is paralyzed.

McGhee will be sentenced Jan. 22 by Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Mary Wiseman.

McGhee was extradicted from California last summer to face the charges in what police called a drug-related shooting. He was arrested May 20 outside Williams’ home in Woodland Hills, Calif. Williams denied through his publicist that he is related to McGhee.

Williams, born in Cincinnati and raised in Dayton, was not home when the arrest was made, his publicist said.

U.S. Marshals Deputy Ron Carter said McGhee’s sister told marshals that Williams and McGhee are distant cousins, and that McGhee has been out with Williams for a few of his comedy shows.

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Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child Porn

By Lou Grieco | Wednesday, January 7, 2009, 04:27 PM

DAYTON — A convicted sex offender, on parole after serving a prison sentence, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, Jan. 7 to one count of possessing child pornography.

Sean T. Porter

Sean T. Porter, age 46, of Dayton, faces a minimum sentence of ten years imprisonment and up to 20 years imprisonment because of prior convictions for sex crimes involving children, according to Gregory G. Lockhart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.

Porter entered the plea before Judge Thomas M. Rose, who will set a date for Porter’s sentencing. Porter will remain on electronic monitoring until he is sentenced.

According to a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Porter began chatting online with “chrissy 13” in June, 2007 thinking that he was chatting with a 13-year old girl. He was actually chatting with an undercover postal inspector.

Porter sent pornographic images of himself and sent “chrissy 13” $60 with the understanding that she would use the money to buy a webcam so she could send pornographic images of herself to him.

At the time, Porter was on parole for a sex offense involving a minor in Greene County. Postal Inspectors and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents went to Porter’s house in January 2008 where they found a computer containing approximately 25 images of child pornography.

Porter was prohibited from using a computer as a condition of his parole. Porter’s plea agreement also calls for him to forfeit all computer equipment in his possession.

“Officers patrolling the Internet are as vital to our community’s safety as are officers patrolling the streets,” Lockhart said. “Parents need to help their children understand the dangers they face on the Internet.”

“Too many individuals mistakenly believe the anonymity of cyberspace shields them from scrutiny,” said Brian Moskowitz, Special Agent in Charge of ICE for Michigan and Ohio. “ICE remains committed to investigating this type of on-line activity to prevent the exploitation of children.”

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov. http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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Hearing today for Columbus man charged in Jenny Nelson slaying

By Lou Grieco | Wednesday, January 7, 2009, 11:01 AM

COLUMBUS — The man charged with 18 felony counts in the slaying of Jenny Nelson and the kidnapping of her 4-year-old son, will appear in Franklin County Common Pleas Court today.

Charlie Myers, 22, of 70 McMillan Ave., will appear at 1:30 p.m. for his Rule 4 hearing. The hearing must be held before Myers can be moved to Montgomery County, where he is charged, according to Greg Flannagan, spokesman for the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.

It is not clear when Myers would be moved, Flannagan said.

Myers is charged with eight felony counts of aggravated murder, four counts of kidnapping and two counts of aggravated robbery.

Investigators said Myers, armed with a shotgun and sexual devices, drove from Columbus on Friday in the Nelson family’s 1999 Honda Accord, stolen from an Ohio State University parking lot on Dec. 17. His intention was to have sexual contact with Nelson’s son, according to Sheriff Phil Plummer.

Myers kicked in the door, then tied up Jenny Nelson. She broke free of her restraints, grabbed a knife and stabbed Myers in the back. Myers then shot her twice in the abdomen. He fled in an Oldsmobile Alero owned by a Nelson relative, taking the boy with him. He left the boy at a rest stop near the Madison and Clark county line.

WSYX-TV Channel 6, Columbus, reported that Sky Cunningham of Columbus thinks Myers once targeted her. Cunningham’s car was stolen last year, as was her purse from the DJ booth where she was working at a bar.

Cunningham said the next day a man matching the description of Myers went to her house, but he was scared away when a male roommate answered the door.

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Techmetals fined $20,000 for environmental offense

By Lou Grieco | Wednesday, January 7, 2009, 09:47 AM

DAYTON — A U.S. District Judge fined a Dayton-based company $20,000 on Tuesday, Jan. 6, three weeks after the company pleaded guilty to knowingly discharging industrial waste water into the city’s sewer system.

Judge Thomas M. Rose also placed Techmetals, Inc. on three years probation and ordered the company to make a $15,000 donation to the Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm, Summer Adventure Program.

The sentence was based on the plea agreement the company entered with federal prosecutors on Dec. 16. Under the agreed sentence, Techmetals must make its first payment of $5,000.00 within 30 days of sentencing, the second payment of $7,500.00 due within 12 months of sentencing, and the last payment of $7,500.00 due within 24 months of sentencing.

Techmetals also agreed to install an industrial wastewater monitoring station, which must be satisfactory to city officials and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

The plea agreement does not resolve any civil liability of Techmetals for environmental, worker safety or other regulatory violations.

According to the statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Techmetals operates several metal plating lines in different buildings, including one at 400 Springfield Street and one at 2300 First Street.

Between Sept. 13, 2003 through Jan. 31, 2004, the company’s pre-treatment system would occasionally not operate properly. The problems were not reported to Techmetals upper management as required, and the pre-treatment operators bypassed the system to continue production.

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Man charged in Covault killings pleads guilty to murder

By Lou Grieco | Tuesday, January 6, 2009, 05:40 PM

DAYTON — Michael Perdue, one of two men charged in the August 2007 double homicide at Covault’s Market, pleaded guilty Tuesday, Jan. 6 to multiple charges, including two counts of murder.

Perdue, 21, appeared before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Gregory Singer. Perdue’s trial was to begin Monday, Jan. 12.

Perdue pleaded guilty to all of the counts in his indictment, including the murder charges, plus two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of kidnapping and one count of tampering with evidence.

“Mike deeply regrets that two lives were lost,” said assistant Montgomery County public defender Michael Pentecost. “He just wanted to put the matter behind him. He also didn’t want to relive the circumstances or the experience.”

The charges stem from the Aug. 21, 2007, shooting deaths of owner Roger Covault and employee Robert Harris inside Covault’s neighborhood grocery store on Wayne Avenue.

Perdue was not the shooter, according to Montgomery County prosecutors. His alleged accomplice, Brandon Phillips, is schedule to go on trial Feb. 2. If convicted, Phillips could face the death penalty.

Perdue faces a maximum sentence of 78 years to life, according to Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. Perdue will be sentenced Jan. 27.

Assistant county prosecutors David Franceschelli and Tracey Tangeman said that prosecutors made no agreements in exchange for Perdue’s guilty pleas.

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Bookkeeper who embezzled $100,000 gets prison sentence

By Lou Grieco | Tuesday, January 6, 2009, 05:00 PM

DAYTON — A former bookkeeper for Chemineer, Inc. was sentenced to six months in federal prison Tuesday, Jan. 6, by U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Rose.

Janice Day, 59, of Trotwood, pleaded guilty in June to a single count of embezzlement.

Day was working for Chemineer in March 2006 when she used her position to obtain and improperly access an American Express corporate credit card account issued to the company, according to the statement of facts filed with Day’s plea.

Between March 2006 and Sept. 2007, she used the card to purchase about $100,000 in personal items for herself and her family, including airline tickets, clothing and furniture. At the end of each billing cycle, Day would fraudulently transfer company funds to pay off the credit card.

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Two hospital employees indicted in identity theft scheme

By Lou Grieco | Wednesday, December 24, 2008, 03:59 PM

DAYTON — Two Trotwood women accused of using their positions at an area hospital for an identity theft scheme have been indicted on multiple felony charges.

According to the indictment handed down Tuesday, Dec. 23, Linda McDermott, 41, is charged with 11 counts of money laundering and one count of identity theft. Lisa Kidd is charged with 19 counts of money laundering and one count of identity theft.

The two, who were employees of Samaritan North Health Center, would scan newspaper obituaries, then use their access to patient records to determine if the recently deceased people were ever patients at Good Samaritan Hospital, said Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias H. Heck, Jr.

When they found former patients’ records, they would use the personal information to apply for small loans through online websites in the names of the deceased. The defendants would then open bank accounts using various names and transfer funds through different accounts before withdrawing the money through an ATM, Heck said.

“These defendants used their access to private, personal information in order to use the names of recently deceased citizens to benefit themselves financially,” Heck said. “The grief and the pain of the families of the deceased was added to by this despicable behavior.”

If convicted, the defendants could face five years incarceration for every money laundering count, which are all third-degree felonies. Kidd’s identity theft count is also a third-degree felony. McDermott’s identity theft count is a fourth-degree felony, punishable by up to 18 months in prison.

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