By Josh Jarman
The Columbus Dispatch
Former Noble County Sheriff Landon T. Smith pleaded guilty yesterday to nepotism charges stemming from a state ethics probe.
Smith, who served as sheriff for 36 years, resigned last month after being charged with a felony count of unlawful interest in a public contract, and a misdemeanor charge of conflict of interest. The sometimes controversial, yet popular, sheriff was sentenced to five years of community control yesterday and ordered to pay a $2,500 fine and court costs, according to a news release from Delaware County Prosecutor David Yost, who was appointed special prosecutor in the case.
Smith was charged with hiring his wife, Peggy Jo, to serve as a deputy in his office and with hiring his daughter-in-law as a dispatcher.
Smith also is accused of transporting jail prisoners to his home farm to do manual labor.
During a news conference in Noble County last month, Yost said investigators photographed Mrs. Smith using a sheriff’s cruiser to do personal shopping at an area Wal-Mart on her day off. The vehicle was equipped with child seats, he said.
Copyright 2009 The Columbus Dispatch