The executive director of the Lucas County Republican Party yesterday admitted to having a felony conviction on her record - after first denying it while under oath.
Joanne Wack, on the stand in Lucas County Common Pleas Court in a hearing over the party's fractured central committee election process, first answered "no" to the question of whether she had ever been convicted of a felony, in Ohio or any other state.
The hearing was abruptly recessed when Lucas County Common Pleas Judge J. Ronald Bowman was shown information to the contrary.
After a meeting with the lawyers in the judge's office, Wack returned to the stand a short time later and answered "yes" to the same question.
Asked by attorney Dennis Strong for an explanation of her "lying" in her earlier testimony, she answered, "It's an embarrassing part of my past. I don't see any bearing on what we're discussing here today."
Details of Wack's felony conviction were sketchy yesterday.
Information uncovered over the weekend by Kelly Bensman, an assistant to Republican activist Jon Stainbrook, and then confirmed by the Lucas County Prosecutor's Office, showed that Wack, then named Joanne Letavish, was convicted in 1994 of grand larceny and violation of probation stemming from a charge filed in 1989 in Westchester County, New York.
In a Oct. 5, 1994, affidavit, "Joanne Letavish" acknowledged a judgment of $6,462.25 as the result of a plea arrangement, and her failure to pay $20 a week. A document one week later indicated she had been convicted of violation of probation and grand larceny and that a violation of probation charge was dismissed. Wack was living in Toledo at the time.
Several lawyers in the case said she would probably not be charged with perjury because the court record was corrected.
Scott Ciolek, an attorney for Mr. Stainbrook - who is mounting an effort to take over control of the county Republican Party - asked the question in court yesterday about Wack's felony conviction. He said he would not pursue prosecution because his clients' interests would not be served by it.
Mr. Ciolek said he brought up Wack's conviction because he wanted to impugn her credibility. A sworn affidavit by Wack was used to justify the April 11 temporary restraining order that removed 27 of Mr. Stainbrook's supporters, who recently won election to the Republican Central Committee, from serving on the committee.
It was unclear last night whether Wack would face any punishment from her employer, the Lucas County Republican Party.
Party Chairman Bob Reichert said he did not plan to fire her. He said the information about her past felony conviction was irrelevant to the case at hand.
"As chair of the Republican Party, I'm not concerned what one of my employees did 20 years ago when we're talking about a case that basically is not involved with that at all," Mr Reichert said. "It's irrelevant to the issue and basically to anything else that's going on."
In November, Wack was charged with forging a check for $790 at the Shop & Save, 653 Main St., but prosecutors dismissed the charges.
Donald Iiams, Jr., of Monclova Township, who is also suing the Republican Party, said he wants Wack prosecuted.
"I'm trying to do something good and these people will perjure themselves ... do everything to keep in the status quo," Mr. Iiams said. "This is going to cost me thousands of dollars."
John Weglian, chief of the special units division in the prosecutor's office, met with Mr. Iiams, but told him that prosecution was "very unlikely" because Wack had corrected her testimony.
"If you lie under oath in an official proceeding, then it's perjury. She corrected her testimony. Nobody was deceived as a result of her testimony," Mr. Weglian said.
Yesterday's hearing was called to consider two related cases. In one case, GOP central committee chairman Douglas Haynam sued to get the group of 27 Stainbrook supporters removed from the central committee, either because, he claimed, they hadn't voted since 2000 or because they voted Democratic in the last primary.
The second case involves Mr. Iiams, who lost his election as a Republican precinct committeeman after Wack mailed postcards in favor of his opponent, Alison Brumenshenkel, with the address and initials of the Lucas County Republican Party in the return address field.
Mr. Iiams contends that the postcards constitute an illegal endorsement by the Republican Party because the party's executive committee never met to approve the endorsement, as required under the party's bylaws.
Contact Tom Troy at: tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058. Permanent LinkGOP chief admits felony recordhttp://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080429/NEWS09/804290358STORY:2008804290358
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