Ohio Man Accused of Fraud Denied Request for Judges to be Dismissed

Ohio’s top judge rejected a request by the coin dealer charged in a state investment scandal who requested that all Lucas County judges be disqualified from hearing his case.

In a four-page order, Chief Justice Thomas Moyer of the Ohio Supreme Court said he saw no reason that Judge Thomas Osowik of Lucas County Common Pleas Court could not oversee the case against coin dealer Tom Noe.

Noe is charged with stealing at least $1 million from an $50 million investment in rare coins he received from the state insurance fund for injured workers. He said the judges should be removed because they are either personal friends or political enemies.

Noe said he considers Osowik a political enemy he has long opposed. Moyer says there’s no evidence that Osowik has said or done anything that would indicate bias against Noe.

Noe’s use of the term ‘political enemies’ to describe Judge Osowik and other judges in Lucas County perhaps reflects the defendant’s own views about the judges, but it tells us nothing about Judge Osowik’s views of the defendant,” Moyer said.

Osowik on Tuesday delayed a hearing involving Noe to wait for a ruling on the disqualification request. He argued in a court filing he should stay on the case.