Staff photo / Ed Runyan John Bartos, left, appears with his attorney, Frank Cassese, for arraignment Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

YOUNGSTOWN — John P. Bartos, 40, of Valley View Drive in Boardman, and his company, Gridiron Windows & Doors LLC, also of Valley View Drive in Boardman, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to the 27 charges of theft, theft from a person in a protected class, passing bad checks and grand theft.

His attorney entered a not guilty plea for Bartos before Magistrate Nicole Alexander of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. The magistrate maintained the bond amounts Bartos already posted.

Bartos and the company are accused of accepting payments from customers for work and materials not provided — in one case, $8,000 worth.

Indictments against Bartos and the company were handed up early this month by a Mahoning County grand jury following numerous theft and passing-bad-check-related charges being filed in the courts in Boardman, Austintown, Canfield, Sebring and Youngstown in recent months.

According to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, Bartos created Gridiron Windows & Doors LLC in May 2017 with the Valley View address. It remains an active limited liability corporation. Bartos is named John P. Bartos III in the listing.

Bartos and the company are indicted on 18 counts of theft, fifth-degree felonies punishable by up to one year in prison each. He and the company also are indicted on six counts of theft from a person in a protected class, a fourth-degree felony punishable by up to 18 months in prison. Bartos and the company are indicted on two counts of passing bad checks, a fifth-degree felony, and one count of grand theft, a fourth-degree felony.

Some of the alleged thefts occurred as recently as December 2022 through January 2023, and some charges date back as far as December 2021, according to the indictments.

erunyan@vindy.com