FREMONT — Sandusky County Sheriff Kyle Overmyer was indicted Tuesday by a grand jury on 43 counts, including 38 felony counts that include theft and tampering with records charges.
Sheriff Overmyer, 42, is accused of using money and tampering with records from his office’s Furtherance of Justice funds.
The indictments allege he deceived physicians and pharmacists to obtain prescription pain medication, and that he took medications from area prescription drug-disposal drop boxes.
The sheriff turned himself in to authorities after 10 p.m., said Dan Tierney, spokesman for Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.
The charges were the culmination of a probe begun in September, 2015, by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, at the request of Thomas Stierwalt, Sandusky County prosecutor.
Sheriff Overmyer is to be arraigned today before Visiting Judge Patricia Cosgrove, Mr. DeWine said in a release. Carol Hamilton O’Brien, the Delaware County prosecutor, has been serving as special prosecutor.
ATTACHMENT: Copy of Overmyer’s indictment
The charges include 12 counts of tampering with records, 12 counts of deception to obtain a dangerous drug, three counts of deception to obtain a dangerous drug, six counts of theft in office, four counts of theft, and one count of theft. He also was charged with five counts of filing false financial disclosure reports, a misdemeanor.
Despite the ongoing investigation, Sandusky County voters in March chose Sheriff Overmyer by 61 percent to 39 percent over Clyde Police Chief Bruce Gower in the Republican primary election.
The investigation by BCI was prompted in part by complaints from area police chiefs that the sheriff took possession of drugs that were surrendered to the police departments. Chief Gower is a member of that police chief group. Sheriff Overmyer responded then that the investigation was political in nature.
Before the primary, John Meyers, Sandusky County prosecutor from 1984-2000, released a report alleging the sheriff “has committed counts of theft” from the sheriff's Furtherance of Justice fund.
The fund is provided by state law, giving the sheriff an amount equal to half the sheriff's salary “for expenses that the sheriff incurs in the performance of the sheriff's official duties and in the furtherance of justice.”
Mr. Meyers’ report is based on public-records requests he made regarding fund usage between 2009 and 2014.
In his report, Mr. Meyers stated several expenditures from the funds were improper, including dues payments to several service clubs, overcharges for travel expenses, and drug buys that Mr. Meyers argued were “not used for a law-enforcement purpose.”
The kind of expenditures the sheriff made is not common practice, Mr. Meyers concluded.
Contact Mark Zaborney at: mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.
First Published August 24, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
