Why did former Highland Heights mayor Scott Coleman steal more than $160,000 in campaign money from [View all]

Why did former Highland Heights mayor Scott Coleman steal more than $160,000 in campaign money from Dave Joyce?

CHARDON - Before February, Scott Coleman was mayor of suburban Highland Heights.

He was a tax manager at Progressive Insurance. He served as campaign treasurer for Republican Congress member Dave Joyce of Bainbridge Township, and Joyce’s predecessor, Steve LaTourette. Friends say he was the kind of guy who did everything for everybody: not just for his family, but also for his friends and for his community.

Today, Coleman is serving a 30-day felony grand theft sentence in jail for embezzling more than $160,000 from Joyce’s campaign. He resigned as mayor, no longer works for Progressive, and is out roughly half his life savings after cutting a check to Joyce’s campaign for the amount he stole, plus what it cost the campaign to investigate Coleman’s wrongdoing and correct its records: $341,983.06.

What went wrong?

A transcript of Coleman’s Oct. 2 sentencing in Geauga County Common Pleas Court obtained by cleveland.com sheds some light on that, but doesn’t fully answer the question. Coleman’s initial sentencing date was moved earlier, and no media were present for it, although his supporters packed the courtroom.

Read more: https://www.cleveland.com/open/2019/10/why-did-former-highland-heights-mayor-scott-coleman-steal-more-than-160000-in-campaign-money-from-dave-joyce.html