Austintown dispatcher released on bond

By Elise Franco

efranco@vindy.com

Youngstown

Joseph Marscio, a former Austintown Township dispatcher facing three felony charges, is out on bond after appearing Wednesday before a magistrate.

Between January and May 2010, Marscio is accused of making 69 inquires on vehicle-title information on 49 people using the Law Enforcement Automated Database System, according to a police report released in July.

Marscio entered innocent pleas to three felony charges — unauthorized use of property, tampering with records and possessing criminal tools.

Magistrate Dennis Sarisky of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court and Marscio’s lawyer, Dominic Vitantonio, had disagreed on an appropriate bond during the arraignment. The prosecution initially sought $50,000.

Marscio, 42, of Winterpark Drive, Austintown, was first taken into custody at the courthouse Wednesday and booked into jail. But he was released from Mahoning County jail Wednesday afternoon after posting to a bondsman 10 percent of a $10,000 bond. He was indicted on the charges Aug. 26.

Vitantonio, his attorney, asked the magistrate that only 10 percent of the bond be posted — instead of $10,000 cash — for Marscio’s release.

Marscio was fired from his job as a township dispatcher in May after police began investigating a complaint filed by an officer in the department. The investigation was turned over to the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.

BCI’s investigation into the inquiries revealed that they were on vehicles owned by his neighbors, Austintown police officers and their relatives.

The report stated that between May 2007 and May 2010, Marscio used LEADS to look up personal information about several neighbors, police officers and a township trustee.

During that three-year period, Marscio is accused of accessing 256 photos from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, compared with the 14 accessed by seven other township dispatchers combined.

“Several LEADS searches were completed which indicate Marscio had accessed other persons’ information, some multiple times and [it] appears to be for non-law- enforcement purposes,” the report said.

Marscio is scheduled for a pretrial hearing at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in front of Judge John M. Durkin. His trial is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Nov. 1.