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WARREN -- Negotiations are ongoing, but no resolution was reached Monday in the misdemeanor criminal case of Anthony Spinosa, former chorbishop of the Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in North Jackson, regarding his two misdemeanor criminal charges.
Spinosa, 75, appeared at the podium with his attorney, Jeff Goodman, for a pretrial hearing before Judge Patricia Knepp in Warren Municipal Court.
Assistant Warren Law Director Diane Barber told the judge she had some negotiations with Goodman and that negotiations are "ongoing." Barber said Goodman was going to ask for the case to be reset, which Goodman agreed was accurate.
The judge agreed to give the parties more time and said Spinosa's bond was going to remain the same. The hearing only took a couple of minutes. Spinosa was not required to say anything during the hearing.
The next pretrial is set for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 13.
Spinosa is charged with procuring, a first-degree misdemeanor, and public indecency, a second-degree misdemeanor. If convicted, he could get jail time, but not prison.
He is accused of engaging in sexual activity with Kenneth Kopp, 53, July 31 in Perkins Park. A caller told police that he and his wife saw two men in the park about 5:40 p.m. engaging in the conduct. The two men "acknowledged the caller and his wife's presence," a Warren police report states.
Police arrived and questioned Kopp, who denied anything was going on, and Spinosa, who denied being with Kopp or knowing him. Spinosa was allowed to leave, but Kopp was taken into custody and later taken to the Trumbull County jail.
Kopp was charged Aug. 3 with misdemeanor public indecency and possession of drug paraphernalia, both low-level misdemeanors. Spinosa also was charged Aug. 3, but he was not booked into the county jail for 10 more days.
Just before Spinosa's hearing Monday, Kopp appeared for a similar hearing. Kopp and his attorney, Rodney Schofield of the Ohio Public Defender's office, also asked for the hearing to be reset, with Schofield saying "We are still waiting for some video."
Schofield asked for 30 more days, and Barber did not object. That hearing was reset until 1:30 p.m. Oct. 14.