Former OH Pension Board Official Sentenced to Community Service

May 12, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A former board member of the Ohio State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS), who was found guilty on two counts of ethics violations, was sentenced to probation, and ordered to pay fines and do community service.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that Hazel Sidaway, a retired teacher, was sentenced to two years of probation, fined $670, and ordered to pay $5,382 in court costs. In addition, she was ordered to complete 200 hours of community service to be divided between her former school district in Canton and either a retirement home or senior center, according to the Dispatch.

Sidaway, 62, apologized to Judge Carrie Glaeden of Franklin County Municipal Court for accepting tickets to a Cleveland Indians game in 2001 and the Broadway production of “Hairspray” in 2003 while on the payroll of the STRS. A jury convicted her of two misdemeanor violations of state ethics laws on April 14 (See Ohio Court Finds Former Pension Board Official Guilty of Ethics Violations ).

Glaeden asked Sidaway to rethink that it was only on two occasions that she let the system down, referring to four other occasions she accepted gifts from companies doing business with STRS.   The jury acquitted Sidaway of charges related to those actions.

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