News Releases

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine joined Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason today to announce indictments involving alleged illegal activity at  internet cafés in the Cleveland area. 

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Attorney General Mike DeWine today filed a complaint against House of Hope Central Ohio in Crooksville. The organization serves children in difficult circumstances, but it is not properly licensed according to the complaint and, in 2011, a resident of the facility was charged with gross sexual battery and gross sexual imposition against a former resident.

Senate Bill 268 closes several gaps left open by Senate Bill 77, which went into effect last year.  Senate Bill 77 allowed for DNA collection only from those who had been arrested for a felony crime.  The new law now allows specimen collection from anyone who is indicted by a grand jury or summoned into court on felony charges.

(CLEVELAND, Ohio) – Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and U.S. Marshal Peter J. Elliott announced at a press conference in Cleveland today that long-time fugitive Bobby Thompson has been arrested in Portland, Oregon.   A tip led investigators to his location, where he has been under surveillance for the past week. He surrendered when approached at his home in Portland last night.

"We are relieved Bobby Thompson is now in federal custody after a nationwide manhunt and years of work within the Attorney General's Office to track him down," said Attorney General DeWine. "We believe he stole between $1.5 and $2 million, which came from generous people in our state who thought they were helping U.S. Navy veterans."

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today announced that Ohioans disposed of several tons of outdated or unwanted prescription drugs during last weekend's National Drug Take Back Day.
The Ohio Attorney General's Office partnered with members of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and local and state law enforcement officers to collect the unneeded pills at dozens of drop off sites across the state on Saturday, April 28, 2012. 

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today joined the Federal Trade Commission, 43 states, and the District of Columbia in announcing a settlement with Skechers USA, Inc. to resolve claims that Skechers overstated weight-loss benefits in advertisements for its rocker-bottom athletic shoes, including Shape-ups, Tone-ups, and the Skechers Resistance Runner.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Attorney General Mike DeWine said today that a consent decree has been agreed to by his office, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA), Otterbein University and the U.S. Department of Defense that will outline responsibilities in investigating contamination on the former Kilgore Manufacturing property, located at 600 N. Spring Road in Westerville (Delaware County). The property is now owned by Otterbein.

Attorney General Mike DeWine announced today that Ohio has joined with 49 states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government to reach a $1.5 billion settlement, the second largest recovery from a pharmaceutical company in a single civil and criminal global resolution agreement, with Abbott Laboratories. In a separate but related settlement, DeWine today joined 44 other states and the District of Columbia in announcing a $100 million settlement with Abbott Laboratories over allegations of illegal off-label marketing of its drug Depakote, marking the largest consumer protection based pharmaceutical settlement ever reached.

Carolyn Quinnie, owner of 3 Ease Home Health Care, was found guilty of felony theft in April.  Today a judge also sentenced her to a suspended sentence of 15 months in jail, with five years of community control.  An investigation by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Attorney General's Office found that the 57-year-old was billing Medicaid for wheelchair transports for individuals who did not need them.

On Tuesday, as part of Attorney General DeWine's Crimes Against Children Initiative, he and Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly asked for help finding Justin Lee Scott, a Sexually Oriented Offender who stopped registering his address with Clark County authorities in January.