Ex-Fremont official pleads guilty to charge

1/18/2013

FREMONT — The city’s for­mer safety-ser­vice di­rec­tor pleaded guilty Thurs­day in San­dusky County Com­mon Pleas Court to a mis­de­meanor charge of der­e­lic­tion of duty.

Marc Glotz­becker, 41, had faced two fel­ony counts of theft in of­fice, but Spe­cial Pros­e­cu­tor Derek DeVine told the court the al­le­ga­tions were weak­ened by the in­a­vail­abil­ity of a key wit­ness, for­mer Olym­pian Suzy Favor Ham­il­ton, who re­port­edly ac­cepted six com­pli­men­tary tick­ets to Cedar Point amuse­ment park from Mr. Glotz­becker.

Mr. Glotz­becker was ac­cused of steal­ing the tick­ets last June and of tak­ing $339 from the city in No­vem­ber, 2011, when he was parks and rec­re­ation di­rec­tor. His at­tor­ney, Dean Henry, said his cli­ent did not ad­mit to steal­ing any­thing, only that he could have done a bet­ter job of su­per­vis­ing em­ploy­ees and keep­ing track of pa­per­work.

Judge John Dewey sen­tenced Mr. Glot­becker to two years pro­ba­tion and or­dered him to pay $573 to the city of Fre­mont and a $500 fine. As part of the plea agree­ment, Mr. Glotz­becker also may not ask to have his court record sealed or ex­punged.

Mr. Glotz­becker, who was fired in Oc­to­ber by Mayor Jim Ellis, re­mains a mem­ber of the Fre­mont city school board.