Ex-students sue college alleging fraud
A group of former Columbus State Community College students has alleged that a now-defunct dental lab-technician program was “grossly inadequate” and not what the school advertised.
A lawsuit filed this week in the Ohio Court of Claims lists 10 plaintiffs who attended the final session of Columbus State’s Dental Lab Technician Program during the 2012-13 school year. The students say the program
how much state funding will follow, noting that the legislature will determine that.
“I believe that this is a state responsibility,” he said. “It’s a state prosecution. And with extraordinary costs, I think that the out-of-pocket ought to be picked up.”
“The state has an interest in justice,” said Yost, a former Delaware County prosecutor. “And we shouldn’t be having to make decisions about prosecution based on what money is available.”
Facing charges of aggravated murder in the deaths are George “Billy” Wagner III, 47; his wife, 48-year-old Angela Wagner; and their two sons, George Wagner IV, 27, and Edward “Jake” Wagner, 26, all of South Webster in Scioto County. Fredericka Wagner, the mother of Billy Wagner, and Rita Newcomb, the mother of Angela Wagner, also face charges related to an alleged cover-up of the slayings.
The execution-style shootings on April 22, 2016, killed 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden; his ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana Manley Rhoden; their daughter, 19-year-old Hanna May Rhoden; their sons, Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16, and Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 20; Frankie’s fiancée, Hannah Gilley, 20; Chris Sr.’s brother, Kenneth Rhoden, 44; and Gary Rhoden, 38, a cousin.
State Sen. Bob Peterson and state Rep. Shane Wilkin, Republicans who represent the county, are working on legislation to provide funds for similar future tragedies in the state based on a community’s budget and size.
Pike County has about 28,000 residents and a general-fund budget of about $10 million.
“It will help. Our budgets are limited,” said Pike County Prosecutor Rob Junk. “When everything is over, there will be tremendous expenditures.”
Junk said the Wagner cases probably will be tried separately and could take years to prosecute. “It’s just because of the amount of evidence and complexity of the case.”
Meanwhile, Sheriff Charles S. Reader, who did not attend Yost’s presentation, held his own news conference to complain about what he said has been a total 28 percent cut in his office’s budget since 2017, a loss of about $960,000, he said.
“We are in a crisis,” he said, describing an overworked staff, fewer patrols and potential public dangers.
“The crisis will continue until the commissioners act.”
Commissioners said several county offices will be required to record costs in the Rhoden case before being reimbursed.
Already, the county has spent more than $600,000 on overtime.
Capital-murder trials require lengthy incarceration, extra courtroom security, expert witnesses, attorneys with death-penalty experience and lengthy mitigation phases, among other costs.
“None of us want to be here, but this is where we are,” said Commissioner Jerry Miller. “A county like ours, to be able to handle this (alone), is just an impossibility.”