Another arrest warrant has been issued for the owner of Fairview Memorial Cemetery after prosecutors said he posted bail with money designated for the cemetery.
Theodore Lloyd Martin, 53, of Ravenna, Ohio, pleaded not guilty to one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a second-degree felony and 51 counts of theft, 27 fourth-degree felonies, 21 fifth-degree felonies and three first-degree misdemeanors and had his bond set at $30,000 at an arraignment in Delaware County Common Pleas Court on March 15.
At the arraignment, Assistant Delaware County Prosecutor Mark Sleeper said Martin and his wife Arminda are the owners of Fairview Memorial Park in Lewis Center and accepted money for services and grave markers that were never delivered. Sleeper said in some cases the orders for the markers were placed with the manufacturer but were never paid for; in other cases the orders were just never placed.
Additionally, a trial is set for May 30.
Court documents indicate that Theodore was released from jail on March 16 after posting bail through a bail bondsman.
However, Sleeper filed a motion on March 27 asking Delaware County Common Pleas Judge Everett Krueger to revoke Theodore’s bond and issue a warrant for Martin’s arrest.
In the Motion to Revoke Bond, Sleeper states that while Theodore was still in jail he called his mother-in-law and his office manager and advised the two women to use a hand stamper for Arminda’s signature and make a check out to one of them for $3,000 so they could post his bail.
Sleeper reports the bank account the check is tied to is the business account for Fairview Memorial Park.
A $3,000 check was then cashed by the office manager, Sleeper wrote in the motion. “The check was ‘signed’ by Arminda Martin. Arminda Martin could not have signed the check because she is currently in prison serving a sentence for tax evasion.”
Sleeper reports the $3,000 used to bail Theodore out came from a February 2017 sale of a vault and two headstones to a Delaware County woman for $5,900.
“The defendant posted bond by directing a potential forgery offense to be committed on his behalf,” Sleeper wrote. “He created another victim by posting bond using money that was paid to Fairview Memorial Park for cemetery purchases, rather than holding onto that money for the purpose that he received it.”
On March 30, Krueger granted the motion, revoking Theodore’s bond and issuing a warrant for his arrest.
At his arraignment, Martin was represented by Scott Wolf, a public defender assigned to the case. On March 16 Wolf filed a motion to withdraw as counsel from the case. In the motion, Wolf wrote that as he was reviewing the evidence in the case he learned that he had previously represented at least two of the alleged victims in the case.
Krueger also granted that motion and appointed William Leber, another public defender, to represent Martin going forward.
Arminda was also indicted with Theodore on Feb. 24 and was charged with one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a second-degree felony; and 37 counts of theft, 17 fourth-degree felonies, 17 fifth-degree felonies, and three first-degree misdemeanors.
Krueger said that Theodore faces between two to eight years in prison for the second-degree felony; between six to 18 months in prison for the fourth-degree felonies and between six and 12 months in prison for the fifth-degree felonies.
An arraignment for Arminda has not yet been set in Delaware County Common Pleas Court.
