Thursday, January 28, 2010

Officer Mark Young Pleads Guilty to Misuse of Data System

A former Marion police officer pleaded guilty to one count related to the misuse of the law enforcement automated data system.

Mark A. Young, 56, pleaded Wednesday in Marion County Common Pleas Court, said Assistant County Prosecutor Dave Stamolis.

Young's trial on three counts of improper use of a telecommunications device, all fifth-degree felonies, was to begin today. He resigned in February, the same day he pleaded not guilty to the three charges. His trial had been continued multiple times since then because of unavailability of counsel and witnesses.

He faces up to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine on the single charge. The other two counts were dismissed in a plea agreement.

Stamolis said the prosecutor's office likely will recommend community-control with some jail time. He requested a presentence investigation.

Sentencing has not been scheduled.

Prosecutor Brent Yager said his office did the plea agreement in large part because the incidents "all happened fairly close to one another in time." He said he doubted the "outcome would be any different" regarding the sentence had Young been convicted of all three charges.

Local attorney J.C. Ratliff was appointed to represent Young. He could not be reached for comment.

Yager said Young's being a police officer wasn't a factor in the prosecutor's handling of the case.

"I think what you try to do is treat it like other cases," Yager said. "He broke the law. Should he be punished worse because he's a police officer? Maybe not, because being a police officer is why he had access to LEADS (the database). You really can't violate that section if you're not a police officer, and it's not a crime of violence or anything. We try to treat people equally."

If sentenced to serve time, it wouldn't be Young's first stay behind bars.

He was convicted of misdemeanor violation of a protection order after a fight with his estranged wife in December 1999. Young was fired the same month for using his badge to try to obtain information at a hotel about the estranged wife, who he suspected was there.

An arbitrator later ruled Young should be reinstated as a police officer, though the city had found four violations of general rules of officer conduct.

The arbitrator ruled three of the complaints were minor violations, not warranting termination. They included conduct unbecoming of an officer, abuse of official position and concealment of material facts.

The city had filed a final grievance - that Young had committed a criminal violation. But the arbitrator ruled Young had not been found guilty in court before his termination.

Before his February resignation, Young had signed a last-chance agreement after a series of conduct violations. Young was a police officer for about 19 years. He was paid $25.84 an hour and $53,747 a year.

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