Lima councilman pleads no contest to threats

5/22/2009

LIMA, Ohio - A city councilman has pleaded no contest to threatening the editorial page editor at the Lima News.

Lima councilman Ray Magnus entered the plea yesterday to disorderly conduct and was ordered to pay $791 in court costs.

Editor Ron Lederman said in a police complaint that Mr. Magnus threatened several times in October to shoot him after he wrote about a question over the councilman's residency. The councilman later said the editor was either mistaken or lying.

Defendants pleading no contest are not admitting guilt but are saying they will offer no defense. The plea is generally treated like a guilty plea by a criminal court.