Former Trumbull County Commissioner James Tsagaris' failure to follow the terms of his house arrest has landed him a prison sentence.
At a hearing in Akron Federal Court Thursday, U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi handed the 75-year-old Tsagaris a sentence of nine months for failing to adhere to the conditions of his sentence handed down in August.
Tsagaris had originally been charged after accepting a loan from an unidentified local businessman in the amount of $36,551 in late 2004 while he was a commissioner without reporting it on state financial disclosure statements in 2005 or 2006. He was sentenced to one year of electronically-monitored house arrest, three years’ probation and a $4,000 fine. He was allowed to attend church and go to his own doctor’s appointments.
Lioi Thursday told Tsagaris that he completely disregarded her orders. In one instance, he went to a cigar shop and in another he took his sister to a doctor's appointment and a grocery store.
He has 10 days to self-report for his sentence.
During court proceedings on the original charges, prosecutors admitted at the time that they could find no evidence that taxpayers lost any public money. That, plus no previous record for Tsagaris, a medical condition described as early onset dementia, and numerous letters of support prompted the judge to impose the light original sentence.
Neither Tsagaris nor his attorney would tell us the name of the businessman who gave him the loan. Tsagaris had told us the businessman's name off the record prior to his sentencing. He said he would name the man after he was sentenced. However, the day he was sentenced Tsagaris said he had dementia and couldn't remember.
