Mahoning County Businessman Pleads Guilty to Bribing Public Officials

YOUNGSTOWN (News Talk 1480 WHBC) – A press release from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost office says Mahoning County businessman, Ray Briya, has pleaded guilty to five felony charges for bribing public officials from the city of Youngstown.

Briya unlawfully promised, offered or gave away valuables including over $100,000 in cash, meals, gifts and golf benefits over a decade in an attempt to bribe public officials. He is set to be sentenced at a later date.

The bribes were given to former Youngstown mayor Charles Sammarone and David Bozanich, the city’s former finance director. Briya falsified an invoice with a developer, Dominic Marchionda, misrepresenting work that was ultimately billed to the city without the knowledge of his former employer. He also stole more than $200,000 from his employer, MS Consultants to finance the bribes.

Briya pleaded guilty to a bill of information that included:

• 2 counts of attempted bribery (F4)
• 1 count of tampering with records (F4)
• 1 count of grand theft (F4)
• 1 count of obstructing justice (F5)

He will be sentenced at a later date. Sammarone, Bozanich and Marchionda were indicted on Aug. 30, 2018, on 101 counts of alleged corruption. Their cases remain under investigation by the Ohio Auditor of State’s Office with the assistance of the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office.