News Releases

Deputies with the Morrow County Sheriff's Office issued a warrant for the arrest of Scott Lyons in January.  He is wanted on a charge of failure to register.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Attorney General Mike DeWine today kicked off National Consumer Protection Week in Ohio with a warning about scammers posing as employees of his office to trick consumers into providing personal information and payment for bogus debts. From Jan. 1-Feb. 20, of this year, the Attorney General's Office has received about a dozen reports of scammers pretending to be from the Attorney General's Office and/or the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI).

"Consumers are reporting phony debt collection calls from alleged BCI agents or other law enforcement officials within the Attorney General's Office," said DeWine. "My office works hard to protect Ohioans from fraud, and we want to make sure Ohioans know that these calls are outright scams. No one from my office will threaten you demanding you pay a debt."

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Miami County Prosecutor Gary Nasal today announced that Theodore Thomas, the accused ringleader of a telemarketing fraud ring from Ohio and Florida that stole millions of dollars from thousands of victims in 41 states since 2007, has pleaded guilty.
 
Thomas, previously of Huber Heights, Ohio, pleaded guilty today to a first-degree felony for engaging in a pattern of corrupt activities. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 11 years.

According to prosecutors with the Attorney General's special prosecutions unit, Shepherd arranged for the sale of 24 properties in Summit and Stark counties at prices that were inflated by phony appraisals.

Rachael Johnson, 24, was last seen alive during the overnight  hours of March 30, 1991.  Her body was discovered later that day in the 700 block of Weller Avenue.  The single mother had been sexually assaulted, stabbed, and set on fire.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today issued a report indicating that more than 76,000 concealed carry licenses were issued in Ohio in 2012, the largest number since licenses were first issued in 2004.

"Our agents are working right now to determine if these cases are connected, but regardless of whether these crimes are being committed by one person or multiple offenders it is a very serious situation," said Attorney General DeWine.

The act, which is intended to strengthen the existing Adult Protective Services Law, aims to improve the response to elder abuse incidents and encourage reporting of elder abuse cases.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced that today's release of a monitor's report shows that more than 7,000 Ohioans have received more than $280 million in consumer relief from the National Mortgage Settlement announced one year ago.

(YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio) -- Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine joined Steven M. Dettelbach, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, to announce that a Poland, Ohio, man appeared in federal court today after his arrest for violating the Clean Water Act.

Ben Lupo, 62, is accused of directing an employee to illegally discharge brine and oil-based drilling mud into a stormwater drain which flowed into an unnamed tributary of the Mahoning River and ultimately into the Mahoning River near Youngstown.