OBERLIN — Lorain County Engineer Ken Carney will begin serving the remainder of a 30-day jail sentence for a 2014 criminal mischief conviction this weekend.
Carney, 67, will report to the Lorain County Jail on Sunday, according to Oberlin Municipal Court records, but will be freed on work release the following day.
A court order signed by Oberlin Municipal Court Judge Thomas Januzzi earlier this month granted Carney work release privileges 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays throughout the 26 days he has remaining on his sentence with the exception of Memorial Day, when he will remain behind bars.
Carney will be tested for alcohol use upon his return to the jail each evening and will be reconnected to an alcohol monitor as a condition of his probation in the case when he finishes his jail sentence.
Lorain County Engineer Ken Carney talks with his attorney, Michael Stepanik, during his arraignment in 2014 in Oberlin Municipal Court. CHRONICLE FILE
Carney was arrested on a domestic violence charge May 16, 2014, after a neighbor called Lorain County Sheriff’s deputies to report a fight between Carney and his girlfriend, Colleen Donnelly, at his Amherst Township home.
She told deputies that that “petty” argument had turned physical with Carney poking her in the chest, pushing her against a wall and screaming at her. She also reported that Carney took a phone away from her and made a motion like he was going to strike her with it.
Prosecutors later agreed to allow Carney to plead no contest to the criminal mischief charge after Donnelly told them she didn’t think Carney meant to hurt her. She also has said there was previous physical abuse in their relationship, although it only occurred when Carney was drinking, as he was the night of his arrest.
Michael Stepanik, one of Carney’s attorneys, said his client hasn’t had a drink since he was arrested two years ago.
Carney lost an appeal challenging the fairness of the sentence Januzzi handed down in the case. The judge had agreed to allow Carney to remain free while the appeal was pending.
Carney, who is running unopposed for re-election this year, has had prior run-ins with the law including charges of DUI, disorderly conduct and an attempted assault case in which he was accused of hitting a prior girlfriend with a bag of cheeseburgers and his fist.
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