By Diane Smith
Record-Courier staff writer
After two and a half years in federal and state prisons, Ravenna’s former mayor will be released from prison today.
The 14-month prison sentence of Paul Jones expires today. He was jailed for activities involving his son’s landscaping business and Jones’ involvement with the business during his tenure as mayor.
Jones, 58, served his state sentence at Ross Correctional Institution. He was admitted to the facility on July 7, 2008, after serving 16 months in federal prison.
His lawyer, Terry Kane of Ravenna, said Jones does not plan to come back to Ravenna. After he leaves prison, he will return to Bradenton, Fla., where he moved with his family in 2005 shortly after resigning as mayor.
Jones served as Ravenna mayor from 1976 to 1982, when he left office to serve six terms as a state representative. He became Ravenna mayor again from 1996 to 2005, when he left office mid-term.
About a year later, following months of speculation, Jones was indicted on federal charges including three counts of filing false tax returns and five counts of mail fraud. Jones pleaded guilty in January 2007 to all of the charges and was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison by Judge Peter C. Economus of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio in Youngstown.
Jones also was ordered to pay restitution, including taxes owed and penalties, on $162,287 of income from 2001-03, which Jones had failed to report to the IRS.
A week after his sentencing in federal court, a Bill of Information against Jones was filed in Portage County Common Pleas Court charging Jones with three counts each of having an unlawful interest in a public contract, filing incomplete or false tax returns and four counts of filing false financial disclosure statements, all felonies.
He pleaded guilty to all 10 charges at an April 9, 2007, hearing in Portage County Common Pleas Judge John Enlow’s courtroom, and was sentenced the same day to 14 months in state prison. Enlow ordered that sentence be served consecutive to the federal sentence rather than concurrently.