Feds indict former Mahoning County Judge and husband
Former Mahoning County Judge Diane Vettori-Caraballo has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly stealing at least $100,000 from a former client.
Former Mahoning County Judge Diane Vettori-Caraballo has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly stealing at least $100,000 from a former client.
Vettori-Caraballo's husband is also named in the indictment.
Fifty-year-old Vettori-Caraballo was charged with one count of mail fraud, one count of structuring cash deposits and one count of making false statements to law enforcement.
Vettori-Caraballo and her husband, Ismael Caraballo, are also charged with one count of filing a false tax return.
In October, Vettori-Caraballo was suspended from the bench while she was being investigated for allegations that she stole money from a deceased client.
The FBI says that the crime happened in early 2016 and Vettori-Caraballo allegedly stole between $100,000 and $328,000 in cash that was in the home of her deceased client.
Vettori-Caraballo was elected to become the Sebring Court Judge in Mahoning County Court #3 in 2002 and she was reelected in 2006 and 2012. Vettori-Caraballo also drafted Robert Sampson's will, on November 20, 2015, Vettori-Caraballo filled an application in Mahoning County Probate Court to administer Sampson's estate. This application stated that Sampson died without a will.
Robert Sampson died in 2015 and his closest living relative was his sister, Dolores Falgiani. Vettori-Caraballo helped Falgiani prepare Sampson's will.
According to the U.S. Attorneys Office, sometime in October or November 2015, Falgiani stated that she had several shoeboxes fo cash stored at her residence. Falgiani was found dead in her apartment on March 10, 2016.
Authorities say that Vettori-Caraballo reported having found cash in Falgiani's residence and depositing the $20,000 into the estate. According to the indictment, Vettori-Caraballo filed a notice fo newly discovered assets with the court and each time failed to disclose the cash she allegedly had stolen.
Vettori-Caraballo allegedly made 22 deposits of cash into five different banks within four weeks to avoid regulations that require banks to report cash transactions over $10,000 to the IRS, according to the indictment.
