A Boardman lawyer is scheduled to go on trial for a second time after a jury in U.S. District could not reach a verdict this week on four of five counts following nineteen hours of deliberation.

The jurors told Judge Benita Pearson on Friday that they found attorney Robert Rohrbaugh II “not guilty” of filing false tax returns. 

However, the jury foreperson reported that jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict in Rohrbaugh’s case on charges of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, aiding and abetting the theft of government property, aiding and abetting false claims against the United States, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Judge Pearson denied a defense motion for a mistrial and scheduled another trial for September 12.

The same jury convicted Rohrbaugh’s co-defendant, Terris Chanley Baker of Canton on the identical four charges which the jury could not reach a verdict on in Rohrbaugh’s case.

Baker is scheduled to be sentenced on August 11.

Both men, along with Brandon Mace of Youngstown, were indicted by a federal grand jury in 2020 for conspiracy to submit fraudulent tax refund claims for fictitious business entities.

According to the indictment, from March 2015 to April 2016, the trio conspired to submit fraudulent federal income tax returns in the names of various fictitious entities to the IRS in order to obtain tax refunds to enrich themselves and others.

On one occasion, according to investigators, the men managed to obtain a refund check for a fictitious business in the amount of $1,352,779.   After obtaining the refund, the three then allegedly attempted to launder the money by purchasing high-end and luxury vehicles.

The U.S. Attorney says the men created phony business entities, trusts, Employer Identification Numbers, and prepared fraudulent income tax return documents, which reported large tax withholdings that never existed.

Mace accepted a deal from prosecutors earlier, pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, aiding and abetting false claims against the United States, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

A sentencing hearing for Mace is scheduled for April 26.