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Former Ohio Deputy Prison Warden Gets Probation for Overtime Fraud

Loaded on Sept. 15, 2024 published in Prison Legal News September, 2024, page 14
Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Defrauding a Public Community, Fraud and Theft Loss. Location: Ohio.

The former Deputy Warden of Ohio’s Warren Correctional Institution was sentenced on March 20, 2024, to probation not exceeding five years, after pleading guilty to theft in office. Robert Welch, 57, admitted stealing over $19,000 in pay for overtime he never worked at the lockup.
Welch fraudulently punched in for more than 350 hours of overtime work with the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DRC) over a 10-­month period beginning in April 2022. DRC investigators later learned from Sinclair Community College that the deputy warden spent some of those hours teaching classes as an adjunct instructor. The school didn’t say what he taught, but presumably it wasn’t a class in ethics.
He resigned from DRC in April 2023 after nearly 23 years, according to the agency’s communications head, JoEllen Smith. At the time Welch earned $53.01 an hour, she said. His October 2023 indictment listed three felony counts, but charges for grand theft and tampering with records were dropped as part of his plea deal.
According to that, Welch agreed to repay the money he defrauded the state. He made out well in the deal; the charge to which he pleaded guilty carried a maximum penalty of 36 months in prison and a $10,000 fine.  

Source: Dayton Daily News

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