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Two people indicted in a scheme to burn down buildings and collect insurance money pleaded guilty to reduced charges in a plea deal made with the special prosecutor in the case.
Heather Marie Kellar, 50, of High Street, Niles, pleaded guilty to an amended indictment of three counts of insurance fraud, two counts of attempted arson and one count of forgery. All the charges are fifth-degree felonies, and each carries possible prison sentences of six months to one year.
Jessica Gonzalez, 53, of Forestview Drive, Youngstown, pleaded guilty to one first-degree misdemeanor charge of theft that carries a maximum six-month jail term.
Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge John Durkin said sentencing for the two will be delayed until after the trial of their co-defendants in the case.
The indictment said the scheme that took place from 2011 to 2017 in Mahoning, Trumbull and Ashtabula counties involved faking burglaries and fraudulently collecting more than $1 million in insurance money.
The crimes alleged include: burning several buildings owned by group members; defrauding insurers, such as Allstate, Farmers and Nationwide; counterfeiting by changing $1 bills into higher denominations; and burglarizing a home in an effort to destroy evidence.
The defendants also are accused of hiding from the Social Security Administration a mineral-rights windfall so that more than $300,000 in benefits could be collected.
Investigators began piecing together the scheme through a 2016 fire on Atkinson Avenue in Youngstown. Several fires were connected to the plot, including two arsons at Kellar's home on Carson-Salt Springs Road in Lordstown.
Five other people were indicted on multiple felony charges connected to the scheme, according to court records.
• Tricia Floyd, 70, of Atkinson Road, Youngstown, is accused of being the ringleader, being charged with 22 counts, including three first-degree and two second-degree counts of aggravated arson. Her jury trial is scheduled to start July 17 before Durkin. Floyd has been free since posting a $50,000 bond;
• Kyrene Rodriguez, 38, of Lois Court, Youngstown, who faces 13 felonies, including three, first-degree and two second-degree counts of aggravated arson. She will have another pretrial hearing before Durkin on Feb. 13. She was freed after posting a $20,000 bond;
• Juan aka Johnny Rodriguez, 34, of Potomac Avenue, Youngstown, who was indicted on six felony charges on Sept. 28, 2022, and pleaded guilty to amended charges of fourth-degree insurance fraud and fifth-degree forgery. On Nov. 8, Durkin sentenced him to 18 months of probation and required him to get his GED;
• Theodore Edward Dozier Wynn, 30, of Bassett Lane, Youngstown, who was indicted on lower-level felonies of grand theft, insurance fraud and tampering with records, on Nov. 3, 2022, pleaded guilty to a first-degree petty theft misdemeanor. Sentencing will be held after the trial of his co-defendants;
• Two felony burglary counts against Christopher J. Gibboney, 29, of Ohio Avenue, Girard, were dismissed Jan. 9, 2023, upon agreement of the special prosecutor -- Daniel Kasaris of the Ohio Attorney General's office-- the victims in the case and the court, records show.
According to prosecutors, Floyd and others were accused of setting fire to Floyd's home in order to collect more than $260,000, while the Lordstown fire brought a settlement of $282,000, prosecutors said.
The case was investigated by the Youngstown Police Department, Ashtabula County Sheriff's Office, Ohio State Fire Marshal, U.S Postal Inspection Service, Secret Service and Social Security inspector general.