NILES — A Trumbull County judge has rejected a request for early release from prison by former Niles Mayor Ralph Infante, who is serving a 10-year sentence for corruption-related charges.

Retired Judge Patricia Cosgrove, a former Summit County Common Pleas judge serving as a visiting judge in Trumbull County, denied Infante’s motion for judicial release, which was filed in February.

Cosgrove also granted a state motion requiring Infante’s pension funds to cover $52,157.32 in prosecution costs and restitution to the city, with payments capped at $3,000 per month.

Infante was convicted on 22 state charges for actions during his administration.

Infante, 69, who is housed at the Lorain Correctional Institution, has served about two-thirds 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.

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 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.