Youngstown mayoral candidate John White, who has more than 35 criminal convictions, is facing felony charges of disrupting public service and domestic violence after allegedly causing damage and acting violent at a Liberty home he owns because his eligibility is being questioned.

Liberty police arrested White about 3:30 p.m. Friday at a house at 1162 Tibbetts Wick Road that he shares with his wife, Councilwoman Amber White, I-7th Ward, the alleged victim.

He was arraigned Monday in Girard Municipal Court on the two felonies and remains free after posting 10% of a $12,500 bond. White’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. May 14.

He was ordered by Girard Municipal Court Judge Jeffrey D. Adler to not have any contact with the alleged victim — his wife.

The report states that John White “received news (Friday) that he did not qualify for a political position for which he was seeking.” The Vindicator reported that day that White’s eligibility to run for Youngstown mayor as an independent was very much in question as it was when he unsuccessfully tried to run for the position in 2021.

In 2021, Amber White unsuccessfully ran as a write-in candidate for mayor after her husband was ruled ineligible by the Mahoning County Board of Elections. While Amber White’s name is removed from the police report, the victim is listed as his wife, which would be her.

The report states Amber White told police that her husband “wanted her to run for the political position to which she declined and stated she did not wish to do that. John began acting irrational and began breaking things around the house and throwing a crockpot out the front window towards her.”

The report states Amber White said her husband “has been very upset about the (eligibility) matter which prompted the argument.”

Amber White told police when she tried to gather property to leave, her husband took her car keys and threw them onto the garage roof so with “John acting more and more violent she grabbed her cellphone and dialed 911,” according to the Liberty police report.

The report states that after that, John White allegedly “grabbed the phone from her hand and threw it into a ditch, which was full of water.” Police found the phone in water in the ditch with the phone damaged.

The report states the victim said John White threatened “to burn the house down as well as burn the vehicles,” and he “tried to grab their juvenile son and take him away from her.”

The day after John White’s arrest, he posted on Facebook a previous photo of him, his wife and their child in the middle hugging both of them. He also updated his Facebook cover photo to that photo the same day.

The report states John White “claimed no physical violence during the incident” and the phone slipped off his wife’s shoulder and into the ditch.

The domestic violence charge was initially a first-degree misdemeanor, but because of John White’s extensive criminal record, it was increased to a fourth-degree felony.

The report stated that a computerized criminal history report was done on John White, which was 18 pages long, including felony convictions of receiving stolen property, aggravated assault to which he was sentenced to prison, breaking and entering to which he was also sentenced to prison, and permitting drug abuse.

White was sentenced June 21, 2012, to 66 months in a federal prison for being a felon in possession of firearms — two .9mm pistols. He served 44 months in federal prison and was moved to a Youngstown halfway house in May 2016. A request for early release was denied Dec. 12, 2018, by a federal judge, Donald C. Nugent, who just wrote that White “will benefit from continued supervision.”

In an April 9, 2012, motion by the federal government — before White pleaded guilty — in opposition to a motion for his release, Gregory Sasse, an U.S. assistant attorney, wrote White “has had 35 criminal convictions” for “drug offenses, convictions for weapons offenses and convictions for crimes of violence (including causing physical harm through the use of a firearm).”

Sasse added White’s “criminal history virtually screams danger to the community.”

In the court docket for that 2012 federal case, White got a 66-month sentence because he was convicted Jan. 22, 2003, in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for aggravated assault. He was sentenced to 18 months in state prison for that conviction.

He was convicted March 19, less than two months ago, in Girard Municipal Court for an unspecified misdemeanor filed by the Trumbull County Board of Health.

Under Ohio Revised Code Section 2961.02, White is permitted to run for Youngstown mayor as a felon but would not be permitted to hold the elected office should he win.

White has previously told The Vindicator that his past convictions wouldn’t restrict him from holding the office.

ELIGIBILITY ISSUES

The Whites list their residence as 2739 Mount Vernon Ave., Youngstown. The Youngstown property is owned by Richard J. Stiles Holdings LLC.

The Whites own the house at 1162 Tibbetts Wick Road in Liberty, which they purchased March 17, 2022, for $65,000. They currently owe $4,445 in county property taxes with at least $3,125 of it delinquent, according to the Trumbull County auditor’s website.

If it can be shown that their primary residence is in Liberty, Amber could possibly be removed from city council and John could be ruled ineligible to run for Youngstown mayor.

Liberty police Chief Toby Meloro said of White, “it seems like he lives in Liberty or at least his wife does.”

Before the 2023 election, in which Amber White won the race for the 7th Ward council seat, her residency was challenged with her and her husband moving a few months before the election from 2803 South Ave. The Mahoning County Board of Elections looked into complaints but found nothing improper.

John White filed last week to run as an independent candidate for Youngstown mayor.

But, as it did in 2021, the board of elections will have to determine if he is permitted to run based on the Youngstown city charter and will heavily rely on the legal opinion of the city’s law director.

On June 12, 2021, Jeff Limbian, then the city’s law director, ruled White wasn’t eligible to be a Youngstown mayoral candidate based on his interpretation of the city charter and state law. The board of elections agreed with the decision on July 6, 2021, and didn’t certify White to the ballot. Kenneth D. Myers, then White’s attorney, objected.

At the time, Myers threatened legal action, but the matter was dropped when it was discovered that White had voted in the Democratic primary after filing as an independent for mayor. Voting in a partisan primary after filing as an independent in Ohio disqualifies a candidate from running.

The board voted 4-0 to not certify White for voting in the primary and for violating the city charter.

The charter reads: “The mayor shall be an elector and resident of the city for the five years immediately preceding the mayor’s election, and not less than 30 years of age.”

White registered to vote Feb. 5, 2021. Shortly after that, he said he hadn’t voted in about 30 years.

The 2021 registration means White hasn’t been an elector of Youngstown for the five years immediately before this year’s election.

In a text message last Thursday for a Friday article in The Vindicator about his eligibility, White stated: “I registered in 2020 and the position doesn’t take effect until 2026. I would recommend you follow up with the board of elections as I have.”

White texted he spoke to Tom McCabe, Mahoning elections director.

McCabe said he’s spoken to White about having enough valid signatures and not voting in the Democratic primary – just as he would for any potential candidate – but he’s never had a discussion with him about being a qualified elector under the city charter.

Regarding being a qualified elector in Youngstown, McCabe said of White: “It’s a hurdle he’s going to have to overcome. I don’t have a vote or a say in this. It’s up to the board. Our records show he registered Feb. 5, 2021. We’re looking into the registration, but our records show 2021. That’s four years, not five.”

White declined to respond further or to take numerous phone calls, except to text: “I wish The Vindicator would just leave my name out of all (their) articles,” and “no need to mention my name or anything about me. News is one-sided.”

McCabe said the board would seek an opinion from the Youngstown law director before considering White’s certification as a mayoral candidate. July 15 is the deadline to certify independent candidates to the Nov. 4 ballot.

City Law Director Lori Shells Simmons said she plans to look at the White eligibility issue and will provide the board a legal opinion once it is requested.

White was arrested Friday — the same day The Vindicator article ran about the eligibility issue.

About four hours after White’s arrest, he wrote on Facebook: “The ones that don’t want change will try to derail this train! If they do, we will answer with the power of the law! The people deserve to have a choice this November! Those raising these nonissues see a threat to their power. They should; they have overstayed their welcome and don’t serve the people!”