YOUNGSTOWN — A businessman was expected to be released Tuesday from an Ohio prison after a judge granted judicial release, cutting more than five years off of his 13-year prison sentence for defrauding customers of the Canfield business he ran, Reinthaler’s Auto Village Inc.

Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Maureen Sweeney held a hearing Tuesday after Joseph Reinthaler Jr.’s attorney, David Betras, filed for a type of prison release approved by the sentencing judge.

Reinthaler, 58, appeared for the hearing over a video feed from prison.

“I have spent the last 7 1/2 years trying to do the right thing,” he said. “I know that what I did was wrong.”

He said he has participated in many prison programs.

Sweeney placed Reinthaler on two years of probation and warned him, “If you violate any term or condition of your community control, you could wind up right back in prison.”

Sweeney sentenced Reinthaler in 2016 after he pleaded guilty to charges of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, forgery, tampering with evidence and 67 counts of tampering with records, according to archives from The Vindicator.

Nick Brevetta, then an assistant county prosecutor, said Reinthaler purchased cars off of people at his dealership and rather than paying off what was owed on the vehicle, he would sell it.

That, in turn, created a nightmare for people who could not get a title for vehicles purchased from Reinthaler, Brevetta said.

Dozens of consumers filed complaints with the state, with most saying they failed to receive a title after buying a vehicle from the dealership.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office sued Reinthaler’s Auto Village Inc. of West Main Street and Reinthaler, claiming he and his business failed to deliver motor vehicle titles to consumers, according to another article in The Vindicator.

The lawsuit sought reimbursement for consumers and for the Title Defect Rescission Fund, which helps consumers resolve title problems that occur after they buy a vehicle from a dealership.

The state helped consumers, in some cases making payments from the rescission fund. At least $180,000 was paid from the fund to help resolve Reinthaler’s Auto Village complaints.

Reinthaler began serving his prison sentence Nov. 28, 2016, according to prison records.

Have an interesting story? Email Ed Runyan at erunyan@vindy.com.