COLUMBUS — Tom Noe, the Coingate figure recently released from prison, is preparing to wed a former guard who worked at the southern Ohio state prison where he was once incarcerated.
Noe, 66, applied Aug. 10 for a marriage license in Vinton County where his bride-to-be, Tammy L. Mitchell, 51, resides in Zaleski. She worked as a general activity therapist and then correctional officer at the Hocking Correctional Facility near Nelsonville, Ohio from 2004 until December, 2015.
Noe was imprisoned at Hocking during the time Ms. Mitchell was a guard there, before he was transferred to the state prison in Marion.
After completing less than 12 years of an 18-year state sentence on theft and racketeering charges, Noe's sentence was commuted by Gov. Mike DeWine and he walked out of prison April 21 to return to the Toledo area. The release was primarily tied to the spread of coronavirus at Marion Correctional Institution, where he was imprisoned at the time, and came despite a unanimous recommendation from the Ohio Parole Board that he not be granted clemency.
Noe had been convicted of 29 charges, 25 of them felonies, for stealing $13.7 million from two rare-coin investment funds totaling $50 million that he managed on behalf of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, the state-run insurance fund for injured workers.
A former chairman of the Lucas County Republican Party, he had previously served nearly two years in federal prison for laundering illegal contributions through conduits to the 2004 re-election campaign of then President George W. Bush.
He will remain under the supervision of the Ohio Parole Authority for another 11 years.
Personnel records for Ms. Mitchell obtained by The Blade from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction showed that she resigned from her job at the prison with a recommendation that she not be rehired in the future “due to an egregious offense.”
The records do not reveal the nature of that offense, but JoEllen Smith, a state prison spokesman, said the offense did not involve Noe.
Prior to her resignation, Ms. Mitchell had generally good performance reviews and had been named employee of the month in 2007.
When contacted Monday by The Blade, Noe declined to comment. Ms. Mitchell could not be reached for comment.
Both are divorced, Noe more publicly — in 2010 from Bernadette Restivo in the wake of his conviction and incarceration. Ms. Restivo is now an attorney in Florida.
Ms. Mitchell was divorced in Vinton County in 2017.
During Noe’s 2018 clemency hearing, Ms. Restivo told the parole board she was willing to remarry Noe if that would help him be released and move to Florida, where he could work to begin paying off $12.4 million in restitution he still owes.
Ms. Restivo told The Blade Monday that she broke off her relationship with Noe shortly after that hearing.
“When I met with the Parole Board in October, 2018, everything I said was the absolute truth. However, when I visited Tom shortly thereafter, it was clear from what he said to me, that he hadn’t personally changed. I was very disappointed but I had to walk away. I have not spoken to him since,” Ms. Restivo said in an emailed response to questions.
A Facebook page belonging to Ms. Mitchell has featured photos of the pair together.
After leaving her prison job, Ms. Mitchell went to work for Austin Powder Co.'s Red Diamond plant, an explosives manufacturer in McArthur, Ohio. According to Vinton County Common Pleas Court records, she is now suing the company in connection with a reported injury.
One of the defendants in that lawsuit is the BWC, the entity from which Noe was convicted of stealing.
First Published August 18, 2020, 5:03 p.m.
