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STEUBENVILLE -- Charges against a second former Eastern Gateway Community College administrator who'd been accused of misuse of a credit card have been dismissed.
At the request of prosecutors with the Ohio Auditor's Special Investigations Unit, Jefferson Common Pleas Judge Joseph Bruzzese dismissed without prejudice theft charges that had been filed against James Miller, former EGCC vice president and chief of staff.
Dismissing charges without prejudice means they can be refiled at a later date.
Miller and former president Jimmie Bruce each were indicted in August on felony charges alleging grand theft, theft in office, telecommunications fraud, misuse of credit cards and having an unlawful interest in a public contract, plus additional misdemeanor counts alleging misuse of credit cards and having an unlawful interest in a public contract.
Bruce was alleged to have misspent $32,704 in EGCC funds and Miller, $10,415.
Notice of Special Prosecutor Thomas Anger's motion was posted in Bruce's case file on Jan. 3, and in Miller's file on Friday.
Court records offered no explanation for the request, nor did Ohio Auditor of State External Communications Specialist Marc C. Kovak elaborate.
"I can only confirm that attorneys from our Special Investigations Unit, who are serving as special prosecutors in the case, did move to dismiss the charges against Jimmie Bruce and James Miller, without prejudice," Kovak said. "Otherwise, we will have no further comment at this time, as we have an ongoing investigation involving Eastern Gateway Community College.
Investigators probing alleged "financial irregularities" searched Eastern Gateway Community College's Steubenville offices on Thursday, reportedly seizing computers and records from the school's facilities.
EGCC spokesman Dennis Willard had said they were "cooperating with all agencies involved, just as we have been open and transparent in our ongoing discussions with the U.S. Department of Education and the Ohio Department of Higher Education."
Willard said Tuesday they were "pleased to hear" charges against Bruce and Miller had been dismissed.
"We have always placed our faith in the legal process and the ideal that you are presumed innocent until proven guilty," Willard said. "We are continuing to fully cooperate with all agencies interested in improving our operations and helping us achieve our commitments to putting our students first at Eastern Gateway Community College."
Classes for the spring semester at EGCC started Monday.