STRUTHERS — A visiting judge sentenced Mahoning County Treasurer Dan Yemma to a three-day alternative jail sentence plus fined him $1,000 and suspended his driver’s license for one year after he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of failure to maintain physical control of a motor vehicle.

The charge was reduced from a driving under the influence charge Yemma faced after a traffic stop Sept. 8.

Struthers Municipal Judge Dominic Leone had recused himself from hearing Yemma’s case. He was replaced on the bench Tuesday by visiting Judge David L. Fuhry, a retired jurist from the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas.

Fuhry suspended 177 days of Yemma’s jail sentence and ordered him to participate in a three-day driving safety program. Yemma also was placed on one-year probation.

City Law Director John N. Zomoida Jr. said Yemma was not treated differently than any other DUI offender that comes to the court.

“In fact, I may have been a little harder on him since he had a previous (such) offense, back in 1989. I recommended a larger fine, and we don’t usually suspend driver’s licenses for those who plead guilty to a reduced physical control charge,” he said.

A charge of failure to maintain lanes of travel was dismissed as part of Yemma agreeing to plead guilty, Zomoida said.

Yemma did not make a statement in court, but his attorney John Shultz said the county official will have limited driving privileges as he provided proof of insurance to the court.

Yemma, 64, 232 Center St., Struthers, was charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence during a 10:02 p.m. Sept. 8 traffic stop at Poland Avenue and State Street.

A Struthers police officer reported he spotted Yemma’s white Chevrolet Trailblazer traveling north on Short Street near the police station toward State Street. The vehicle did not stop at the stop sign and made a wide right turn onto State Street, traveling over the double yellow line, according to a police report. The vehicle made a “sharp correction,” swerving right and then sped up rapidly, the report states.

The officer stopped the vehicle near the Premier Bank, a couple of blocks away.

The driver, later identified as Yemma, pulled over onto the curb. The officer spoke with Yemma. The officer smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the vehicle, the report states. Yemma denied drinking alcohol.

The officer performed field sobriety tests, which he determined Yemma was not able to perform. Yemma then was taken to the Campbell Police Department, where he refused to take a blood-alcohol test. Under Ohio law, that refusal was an automatic one-year driver’s license suspension, Fuhry said.

Yemma has 30 days to pay the fine, according to the court’s policy. Fuhry warned Yemma that if he commits a violation during probation, he could face the entire 180-day jail sentence.