County auditor, deputies enter pleas

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Three Van Wert County officials were arraigned Wednesday morning on indictments stemming from an intrusion into the County Treasurer’s offices in the County Courthouse back in May.

The hearing was held before retired Greene County Common Pleas Judge J. Timothy Campbell, who was presiding on assignment from the Ohio Supreme Court.

County Auditor Philip Baxter was not represented by legal counsel during the hearing, but entered not guilty pleas to three counts: breaking and entering and unauthorized use of property, each a felony of the fifth degree, and a first-degree misdemeanor count of intimidation.

Henry County Prosecuting Attorney Gwen Howe-Gebers, who is acting as special prosecutor in the case, has requested through the Ohio Supreme Court that Baxter be suspended from his elected position until the case is completed.

Baxter has 14 days to either agree to the suspension or request a hearing before the Ohio Supreme Court, Howe-Gebers noted.

The special prosecutor said the suspension process for an elected official was unfamiliar to her, leading to some additional research on the matter.

“It’s very rare (and) I have never been involved in it,” Howe-Gebers noted.

Deputy Auditor Julienne Rolsten also pleaded not guilty to three charges: one count each of tampering with records, a felony of the third degree; and breaking and entering and unauthorized use of property, computer, cable, or telecommunications property, each a felony of the fifth degree.

Deputy Auditor Juliann Zinn entered a not guilty plea to one count of breaking and entering, a felony of the fifth degree. Both Rolsten and Zinn were represented at Wednesday’s arraignment hearing by Lima attorney William Kluge, although he will represent only Rolsten as the case continues.

A condition for both Rolsten and Zinn’s being released on unsecured personal surety bonds is that neither have any contact with the County Treasurer’s Office, and that their computers be available at any time to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, the Ohio Attorney-General’s Office’s investigative agency that has been involved in this investigation.

Howe-Gebers said she and the three defense attorneys in the case will now exchange discovery, which the special prosecutor said could take some time.

“There’s a lot to be disclosed in discovery,” Howe-Gebers said. “This investigation went on for a period of months, so there is a lot of information to provide to them for them to go over.”

The special prosecutor also noted her opinion that, with a lengthy discovery process, as well as a visiting judge and several attorneys involved in the case, a pretrial conference would not likely be scheduled until sometime early next year, with a conclusion to the case probably sometime in the spring.