2 enter guilty pleas in GOP corruption case

Headline Legal News

Two people who worked for former House Speaker John Perzel have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a public corruption investigation of the House Republican Caucus.

Samuel Stokes, a former House employee and brother-in-law to Perzel, pleaded guilty to one count of conflict of interest and one count of criminal conspiracy.

Don McClintock, a former campaign aide to Perzel, entered a guilty plea for one count of criminal conspiracy.

Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.

Stokes and McClintock were facing at least a dozen counts charging them with conflict of interest, theft and conspiracy, but agreed to cooperate in the prosecution of other defendants as part of an agreement with the state attorney general's office.

Paul Towhey, Perzel's former chief of staff, was expected to enter a guilty plea on Friday.

Perzel, Rep. Brett Feese, and five other current and former aides were charged in November 2009 after a grand jury found they used taxpayers' funds, employees and resources for political campaign purposes.

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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.

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