WARREN — The special prosecutor who obtained convictions against former Niles Mayor Ralph Infante that resulted in a 10-year prison sentence has filed a motion asking that $51,158 — the cost of Infante’s prosecution — be deducted from Infante’s state retirement account.

The filing requests $4,000 be deducted per month until the restitution and cost of prosecution is paid. Infante can request a hearing on the matter.

Senior assistant Ohio Attorney General Dan Kasaris filed the motion April 11 with Judge Patricia Cosgrove, who presided over Infante’s trial in 2018 in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

Infante, 67, who is housed at the Lorain Correctional Institution, has served about half of his prison sentence, having been admitted to the institution May 15, 2018. His expected release date / parole eligibility date is May 1, 2028, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

The filing states during Infante’s sentencing hearing May 11, 2018, Cosgrove, a retired Summit County Common Pleas judge, ordered him to pay the cost of prosecution to the state, court costs to Trumbull County and $999 to Niles.

She also ordered that “all cash seized from him and or the co-defendant ITAM (club) was ordered held by the Trumbull County Clerk of Court.”

MISDEEDS

A Trumbull County jury found Infante guilty of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, theft in office and 20 other offenses, including having a public interest in a public contract, gambling, falsification and 13 counts of tampering with records.

Among Infante’s misdeeds were he and his wife, Judy Infante, failing to report $59,620 in gambling profits they earned through the ITAM club they formerly operated on U.S. Route 422 in McKinley Heights, a 2019 Kasaris appeals court filing stated. City employee Scott Shaffer gave $3,000 in cash to Ralph Infante in 2012, and Shaffer bought and installed a television and air conditioner worth about $2,000 in the bar for free in 2014, the 2019 filing states.

Ralph Infante also admitted in 2009 he got two free tickets to the 2007 National Championship football game from local businessmen Anthony Cafaro Sr. or his son, Anthony Cafaro Jr., and did not report them as gifts, the document states.

The Ohio Auditor’s Office concluded the amount of cash deposits into the Infantes’ bank accounts from 2009 to 2014 not attributable to income sources such as Ralph Infante’s salary as mayor was $103,605. The money was not reported as income or gifts on financial-disclosure forms, the filing added.

The Cafaro Company-operated baseball field at the Eastwood Mall Complex received $60,000 to $65,000 in free water despite the issue being reported to Ralph Infante and other officials, the 2019 filing states.

Ralph Infante also allowed building fees for the Cafaro Company’s new office complex at the Eastwood Mall and another construction project at the mall to be waived even though that authority rested solely with Niles City Council, the filing states.

“All appeals in this matter have been exhausted, and his conviction and sentence have been upheld,” the April filing states.

PENSION

Infante retired from the city of Niles and Trumbull County Board of Elections, resulting in him collecting a pension from Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, the filing states.

A Feb. 21, 2021, letter from OPERS states Infante was receiving a gross monthly payment of $5,195 with a net monthly payment of $4,766. OPERS also issued Infante a refund of his “money purchase account” of $32,672 minus federal taxes of $1,014 on March 31, 2016.

The filing also included a copy of Infante’s sentencing entry, in which it was stated that Infante was ordered to pay the $51,158 cost of prosecution, $999 to Niles court costs and for the funds seized during a Feb. 1, 2016, search to be deposited with the clerk of courts.

The sentencing entry ordered Clerk of Courts Karen Infante Allen to “maintain such amount until such (time) as any appeal process has concluded. Upon which said monies are to be applied to the court costs owed by the defendant and then applied to the costs of prosecution.”

Infante Allen is Ralph Infante’s sister.

The April filing quoted from state law that requires a judge who imposes a sentence for theft in office to order the defendant to “make restitution for all of the property or the service that is the subject of the offense, in addition to the term of imprisonment and any fine imposed.”

Restitution “shall include cost of auditing the public entities specified … that own the property or service involved in the conduct,” it states.

The filing states that after the motion is filed, the clerk of courts “shall notify the offender, the specified retirement system” in writing that the motion was filed. A hearing will be held on the motion if the defendant requests one within 30 days of the defendant receiving the notice.

The docket for Infante’s case does not indicate that Infante has yet requested a hearing.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office will reimburse the Ohio Auditor’s Office for its costs from the $51,158 cost of prosecution, the filing notes.