Former Ohio AG’s aide indicted on 10 counts

By Stephen Majors
Wire Service Correspondent

COLUMBUS, OH (AP) – A top aide at the center of former Attorney General Marc Dann’s downfall was hit with a 10-count indictment Thursday alleging he committed felony theft in office and used a state computer system to transmit fraudulent workers’ compensation documents.
The indictment against Anthony Gutierrez exactly one year after Dann’s resignation carries a maximum of eight years in prison and $20,000 in fines. The charges are unrelated to complaints Gutierrez had sexually harassed two female office employees while serving as Dann’s head of general services. The grand jury indictment was sought after negotiations between prosecutors and Gutierrez to reach a plea deal broke down.
Gutierrez will be brought to court Monday, when he is expected to enter not guilty pleas, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said. Bond would be set at a low amount, if at all, because the state doesn’t consider Gutierrez a flight risk, O’Brien said.
A message seeking comment about the indictment was left Thursday at the office of Sam Amendolara, Gutierrez’s attorney.
O’Brien said the investigation, as far as Gutierrez is concerned, is over, but that an investigation is ongoing into other players in Dann’s office.
“This does not conclude the investigation,’’ said O’Brien, who was circumspect about giving details about the charges against Gutierrez or commenting on potential charges against others in the future. “There are other persons, incidents and circumstances that are continuing to be investigated.’’
One of the charges alleges that Gutierrez used campaign funds to pay rent and utilities for a condominium in northwest Columbus and a residence in a neighborhood north of downtown Columbus while simultaneously receiving a state salary. The condo was shared with Dann and Leo Jennings, Dann’s communications director who was fired in the wake of the harassment scandal.
O’Brien declined to comment whether Gutierrez’s roommates would face similar charges.
Ohio Ethics Commission Executive Director David Freel said attempts were made to interview Dann and his wife about activities in the office but that Dann only agreed to respond to questions in writing. Investigators said that was unacceptable.
The indictment against Gutierrez consists of six felonies and four misdemeanors, including a fifth-degree felony theft-in-office charge alleging that Guti-errez used state time, resources and employees to conduct work for his personal construction business.
The charges represent the most serious allegations brought against a public official by Franklin County in recent history in terms of the penalties, O’Brien said. Most charges against public officials brought by O’Brien’s office are misdemeanor ethics charges, he said.
Gutierrez’s charges also stem from his alleged use of a state computer system to transmit workers’ compensation reports for his personal business – some of which were alleged to have been fraudulent to minimize the amount he owed in premiums.
Other charges involve allegations that Gutierrez failed to disclose income from his personal business and a $5,000 loan from an account Dann set up to pay for his transition into office on financial disclosure forms, as well as the use of campaign funds for personal reasons.
Gutierrez was fired last year. Dann, a Democrat, later resigned after admitting that he had an extramarital affair with an employee and that he had managed the office poorly. Dann was elected in 2006 on an anti-corruption platform and acknowledged that he was unprepared to manage an organization the size of the attorney general’s office.