Trammell was indicted Wednesday by a Montgomery County grand jury on 51 felony counts related to a home-delivered meals program that the county contracted with two of his social service agencies to operate.
Trammell, former chairman of the Dayton Southern Christian Leadership Conference and executive director of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, is accused of stealing nearly $50,000 in taxpayer money meant to feed the elderly between 2005 and 2010.
He faces one count of grand theft, 25 counts of forgery, and 25 counts of tampering with government records.
On Thursday, there was a nationwide warrant issued that would have resulted in Trammell's arrest and extradition if he had been found out of state, said Greg Flannagan, spokesman for Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias H. Heck Jr.
“We wish we knew where Raleigh was,” Flannagan said Thursday. “If he doesn’t present himself to the jail, he is subject to arrest wherever he is.”
Flannagan said Trammell’s attorney is Martin Pinales, out of Cincinnati. Heck’s office was told Wednesday that Trammell was out of state.
Also on Thursday, the new leadership of the Dayton SCLC held a news conference to talk about the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration and how the group will rebuild.
Bishop Richard Cox, SCLC Dayton chapter president, said he is praying for Trammell’s family. Asked for his reaction to the charges, Cox said, “I was saddened. It’s not what we stand for.
“But what you have to understand is that Rev. Trammell did some great works in this community and we have to let what happened play out in the courts,” he said. “I cannot judge Raleigh Trammell. This community should not judge Raleigh Trammell.”
Trammell was ousted as local and national SCLC chairman after a battle between factions in the organization. He remains under federal investigation for allegations that he and another man misappropriated national SCLC money. The Department of Homeland Security inspector general opened an investigation into the local SCLC and IMA for accepting Federal Emergency Management Agency money for a non-existent food pantry and domestic violence shelter.
Rene Lee, spokeswoman for the inspector general, said questions about the FEMA investigation should be directed to the FBI. Fred Alverson, spokesman for U.S. Attorney’s Office for Ohio’s southern district, said the investigation is continuing.
A 2010 Dayton Daily News investigation raised questions about the FEMA funding, the home-based meals program and several other social services programs operated by SCLC and the IMA. The FBI on Feb. 11 raided the former SCLC headquarters in Dayton and the Dayton homes of Trammell and his daughter, Angela Goodwine, 50.
By March, all public funding was withdrawn for the two groups — nearly $419,000 last year. The groups had long been providing services, mostly through contracts with Montgomery County, but also through Public Health-Dayton and Montgomery County, the state and FEMA. In all, SCLC and IMA have received nearly $4.4 million in taxpayer money since 1988.
The county had a contract with the IMA or SCLC for the home-based meals program since 1987, paying the groups nearly $693,000 to feed needy elderly people, according to Cathy Petersen, a county spokeswoman.
Trammell, pastor of Central Missionary Baptist Church, was convicted in 1978 on two counts each of larceny and grand theft for crimes committed as deputy director of the Montgomery County Welfare Department. He served about a year. He became the local SCLC leader in 1983.
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