Appeal decision pending for former Vienna fiscal officer on theft charges, more
Former Vienna fiscal officer Linda McCullough recently had her appeal argued before Ohio’s 11th District Court of Appeals.
McCullough, 56, is serving an eight-year consecutive prison term in the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville after being sentenced Aug. 7, 2025, by Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Cynthia W. Rice on convictions of seven counts tampering with records and two counts theft in office.
In her appeal, argued by attorney Corey Grimm, the defendant cites one assignment of error, that the trial court failed to make findings for imposing consecutive sentences under Ohio law.
Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Charles Morrow argued for the state saying the court made the necessary findings.
In his argument before Judges Scott Lynch, Matt Lynch and Eugene A. Lucci, Morrow stated, in quoting an earlier Supreme Court decision that an appellate court must have a firm belief of conviction that the record fails to support the findings before disturbing consecutive sentences.
“Does the record clearly fail to support the trial court’s findings? Given what happened here – 127 fraudulent transactions, more than $120,000 stolen, abuse of public office, a township in fiscal emergency, and complete lack of remorse (by defendant) – the answer is plainly no.”
The 11th District Judges took the case under advisement saying a decision is pending.
The case involved missing money in Vienna Township accounts, and as part of the sentence, Judge Rice ordered McCullough to pay $120,371 in restitution to the township and $11,746 to reimburse the state auditor’s office for the investigation into the missing money in the township funds.