COLUMBUS — The Ohio Parole Board has recommended for a third time that Tom Noe should remain behind bars for stealing $13.7 million from the state’s insurance fund for injured workers more than a decade ago.
Noe has served about 10 years of an 18-year state sentence related to his convictions for skimming money from a total of $50 million in rare-coin investments he managed for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. He was also separately convicted of federal charges related to laundering campaign contributions to the 2004 re-election campaign of then-President George W. Bush. He served two years in federal prison on those charges before starting his state sentence.
And while his most recent attempt to get out of prison early hit another snag, the key figure in the Coingate scandal made some progress compared to his two prior attempts. In those cases the board voted unanimously against recommending that Gov. John Kasich show him mercy. This time he picked up two votes in a 5-2 decision.
In a 13-page report, a copy of which was obtained by The Blade, the board’s majority found it would be “inappropriate” to commute Noe’s sentence, finding that, among other things, he lacked sincere remorse.
“When answering basic questions about his crime, the applicant minimized his behavior,” the clemency report reads. “The applicant maintained that what he did in terms of spending OBWC funds, toward personal items, was nothing more than him making purchases on the monies that were to be his portion of the profits, even though no ‘profit’ had been realized and no investments pursued when said purchases were made.”
The report noted that Noe said he took “full responsibility” for what he did during his interview with the board.
But it went on to say, “Not once did the applicant refer to his actions as ‘stealing or theft.’ Throughout the interview, the applicant continued to avoid answering direct questions relative to his offenses by minimizing his actions, justifying his behaviors, and only admitting to poor record keeping as the ultimate crime committed.”
It also noted that he lacks a plan to repay the state the $13.7 million he owes in restitution.
The report was sent to Mr. Kasich on Wednesday, according to the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Its findings are not binding upon the governor.
“What I would tell the governor is he represents the people of the state of Ohio,” said Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates, whose office tried Noe for the crimes in 2006.
“I think the question for Mr. Noe is where is the money and does he plan to repay the people who he owes $13.7 million plus court costs,” she said. “That doesn’t mean moving to Florida and living with your ex-wife.”
With its prior rejections, the board did not hold hearings or interview Noe. Mr. Kasich, on Noe’s second clemency attempt earlier this year, sent the case back to the board for a hearing. The hearing took place last month, and Noe was interviewed by the board via video from the Marion Correctional Institution.
The two members supporting clemency said they found that the former Toledo area coin dealer’s sentence to be disparate from those given to others convicted of similar crimes and agreed with advocates for Noe that his trial was unfair. They also cited an interest in the state of Ohio collecting restitution.
Bernadette Restivo, Noe’s ex-wife and an attorney in Florida, pointed to the question that the board’s acting chairman had asked of the assistant county prosecutor at the hearing. The chairman essentially asked whether it would be better for Noe to remain in prison or be released so he could make some attempt at restitution.
“It all boils down to whether we want him to sit there eight more years and come out at a point where he is so old — I hate to say it — that his ability to generate income is severely diminished,” she said. “Or let’s get him back to work…He’s got nothing left as evidenced by my bankruptcy.”
The board’s acting chairman who asked that restitution question, Trayce Thalheimer, was among the five who voted against clemency.
Ms. Restivo told the board that she was prepared to remarry Noe so that he could move to her small cottage in Florida as part of a reciprocal program with Ohio and work to begin making restitution to the state. She told the board that the large Florida home she owned with her husband was sold to avoid foreclosure.
In all, Noe was convicted of 29 charges, 25 of them felonies. A racketeering conviction alone carried a minimum sentence of 10 years. In connection to the scandal nineteen people pleaded guilty or were convicted, including Republican then-Gov. Bob Taft on misdemeanor ethics charges of failing to report golf outings and other gifts, some involving Noe.
Noe and witnesses told the parole board that he is not the same man the same man originally sent to prison. Witnesses argued that Noe, a former county Republican chairman, was a victim of, among other things, a “tense” political environment in Toledo and unfair press coverage from The Blade.
They also suggested that the jury may not have returned the same verdicts had it known at trial that the BWC investments in rare coins had made a profit for the state despite the theft once the assets were sold.
Noe is asking the governor to commute his sentence to the roughly 10 years he has already served on his state sentence. If clemency is denied, he would have to wait two more years before petitioning Mr. Kasich’s successor. Currently, he is slated to be released on Oct. 22, 2026.
“We appreciate the parole board examining this case, and the governor will be reviewing their report,” Kasich spokesman Jon Keeling said.
The governor faces no deadline to act. If he does not make a decision before leaving office in early January, it will remain on his desk for his successor.
First Published November 2, 2018, 5:21 p.m.
