Helms agrees to plea deal
FREMONT - Former Clyde-Green Springs Exempted Village School District Superintendent Todd Helms today pleaded guilty to 10 felony charges that could land him in prison for up to 28 years.
Helms appeared before Sandusky County Court Common Pleas Court Judge Barbara Ansted, where he entered a guilty plea to 10 of the 19 counts he was originally indicted upon for his alleged embezzlement of nearly $300,000 from the school district and six booster groups.
Defense attorney Dean Henry reported his client is now slated for a sentencing hearing at 1:15 p.m. Dec. 9 as well as a restitution hearing in Common Pleas Court.
Helms' guilty plea today follows a year-long investigation and prosecution completed by Auditor of State Mary Taylor, which outlined how Helms stole nearly $300,000 from district taxpayers.
"This is a proper ending to an investigation that concluded Todd Helms stole hundreds of thousands of tax dollars meant to educate children in this community," Taylor in a press release today. "We will continue our vigilant work to track down fraud and make sure those stealing from Ohio taxpayers are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."
Helms pleaded guilty to six counts of theft, one count of theft in office, one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, one count of tampering with records and one count of filing a false/fraudulent tax return. He also agreed to forfeit his public pension account with the State Teachers Retirement System and is prohibited from serving in a public office ever again.
On Aug. 4, 2009, Taylor released the results of an investigation that detailed how Helms established elaborate schemes to steal $295,767 of school money. He stole $161,725 from six different school booster clubs, created fake companies to receive $110,031 in fraudulent payments and made unauthorized purchases totaling $24,011.See more details in Wednesday's issue of The Clyde Enterprise.
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