Man charged with cemetery fraud in custody

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A Ravenna, Ohio man who was recently indicted on more than 50 counts, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and theft, is in the Delaware County Jail after being extradited to Ohio from Pennsylvania.

Theodore Lloyd Martin, 53, was arrested last week by Pennsylvania State Police after Delaware County Sheriff’s Detective Christy Burke coordinated with them to secure his arrest.

Officials from the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office said last week that Burke knew that Martin had a gambling habit and contacted a casino near a property Martin owned in Pennsylvania, and asked them to inform police if he came in. Martin was taken into custody by state at a casino on March 1 and was brought to the Delaware County Jail on March 6 to face numerous charges.

Martin and his wife Arminda, 46, are charged with one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a second-degree felony; and 35 counts of theft, 17 fourth-degree felonies, 15 fifth-degree felonies, and three first-degree misdemeanors.

Theodore Martin also was charged with an additional 16 counts of theft, ten fourth-degree felonies and six fifth-degree felonies. Arminda Martin also was charged with an additional two counts of fifth-degree felony theft.

The Martins are accused of accepting money for services at a Lewis Center cemetery, but never delivering the promised services or items.

According to Facebook post on the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office page, Arminda is currently incarcerated in West Virginia, and the process has begun to bring her to Delaware to face the charges.

Arraignments have not yet been scheduled, but Delaware County Common Pleas Judge Everett Krueger will preside over the case.

Prosecutors report charges come after multiple victims reported they paid the couple for services at Fairview Memorial Park in Lewis Center, but had not received anything for their money.

“There are 44 victims named in the indictment,” said Delaware County Prosecutor Carol O’Brien when the indictment was released. “They describe purchasing items such as grave markers, grave plots, and vaults, all of which were never provided after payment.”

The indictment states the offenses occurred between February 2008 and fall of last year.

The Delaware County Sheriff’s Office began the investigation in March when a Pataskala, Ohio resident called the sheriff’s office to report he had paid $2,965 for a headstone that was never placed at Fairview Memorial Park.

The Martins are also defendants in five civil suits in Portage County, alleging they were paid for services and items they never performed or delivered at a cemetery they own in Ravenna, Ohio. Court records indicate those purchases were made from 1990 to 2008.

Theodore Martin.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2017/03/web1_martin-1.jpgTheodore Martin.

By Glenn Battishill

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Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903 or on Twitter @BattishillDG.

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