State-appointed Judge Jonathan Hein this month issued an order saying some documents filed by state investigators and Foley’s attorneys were improperly sealed in the court records maintained by Foley’s office.
The order unsealing those records came after Hein accepted Foley’s plea withdrawal and reversal of his felony conviction last week.
Court records show that Jon Paul Rion, representing Foley, in May subpoenaed former Montgomery County Clerk of Courts employee Tyler Starline for access to texts on his cellphone.
Starline — a former Huber Heights city councilman — was interviewed by state investigators days after he was fired from the Montgomery County Clerk of Courts in 2022.
Rion wants access to all conversations between Starline and Foley, as well as Starline’s conversations with Montgomery County Treasurer John McManus and Second Appellate District Judge Mary Katherine Huffman. Rion also requested “any text messages about Michael Foley or the Montgomery County Clerk of Courts in (Starline’s) capacity as the attorney for the Clerk of Courts,” according to unsealed court records.
Starline’s attorney in June challenged this, arguing the subpoena was “unreasonable and oppressive” and would create “significant risk of undue disclosure of privileged attorney-client communications without a protective order.”
Starline did not immediately return a request for comment regarding his involvement in the case.
County equipment, campaign finance
Foley’s attorneys last year asked the court to suppress information gathered during the state’s raid of the Montgomery County Clerk of Courts office in 2022, arguing that misleading information led to search warrants being executed at the courthouse.
The state’s Nov. 11, 2024 response to that request became available for public view for the first time last week.
Starline worked in management at the clerk’s office and formerly worked as a defense attorney, according to court records.
He told state investigators that while working at the clerk’s office, he “observed (Foley’s) administrative assistant, who is also his campaign treasurer … doing campaign finance documents on the County computers where she was filling out his campaign finance report, asking him questions, he was answering from his corner office,” according to court records.
“Her cubicle’s right outside. They’re doing all of this on county equipment,” Starline told state investigators, according to court records.
Some of the 12 counts Foley faces are linked to the time theft of former employee Elle Sollenberger for the time she allegedly spent working on his campaign, soliciting political contributions and working on his private business, Dayton Daily News has previously reported.
Sollenberger volunteered for Foley’s campaign in 2018 and accepted an executive assistant job at his office when he won the election. She worked as his campaign treasurer through 2022, according to Montgomery County campaign finance forms.
Starline told state investigators that he believes he was fired from the clerk’s office for “what he knew was going on in the clerk’s office,” according to court documents.
Bonuses for donations discussed?
The newly unsealed records allege Foley in 2022 discussed with some managers giving employees higher bonuses if they contributed to his campaign. But the deputy chief clerk advised against this and it didn’t happen, state investigators say.
“It’s important to remember that the State found no further evidence of the bonus-for-donation scheme contemplated by Mr. Foley,” said Ohio Auditor of State investigator Thomas Anger in court documents.
“There were several discussions in 2022 between Foley and some management employees where he indicated if the employee donates to his campaign, then they would get a higher bonus,” court documents filed by Anger state.
A filing by Foley’s attorney includes an excerpt from an affidavit in support of the search warrant in the case. In it, state investigators allege Foley’s chief deputy and the office manager for the municipal courts “went directly to employees on Foley’s behalf soliciting donations to the Foley campaign,” and employees “felt pressured” by this.
The Montgomery County Clerk of Courts office declined to comment on the allegations against Foley, citing ongoing litigation.
But a spokesperson for that office told this news outlet that bonuses depend on the availability of funds and are awarded on an annual basis. They are based on the recommendations of division managers in the office and are approved by the chief administrator there.
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