Conviction of Toledo man overturned by state court

7/1/2008

BOWLING GREEN An Ohio appeals court has overturned the conviction of a Toledo man for theft in excess of $100,000, saying prosecutors did not prove he had stolen nearly that much in Wood County.

Last year, Lee Darrington, 31, was convicted of aggravated theft, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, forgery, and trafficking in cocaine after a Wood County Common Pleas Court jury found he was responsible for passing more than $100,000 in counterfeit checks.

He was sentenced to a total of 14 years and 11 months in prison, including three years for the theft conviction.

The 6th District Court of Appeals reversed the theft conviction only, saying that while a Perrysburg Township police detective testified that Darrington was responsible for $165,568.42 in losses, testimony at trial showed that only about $12,000 in checks were cashed in Wood County between Aug. 1, 2005, and May 2, 2006.

The state needed to establish that the theft offense occurred within the jurisdiction and within the time frame set forth in the indictment, Judge Peter M. Handwork wrote.