COLUMBUS — St. Clairsville Councilman Mark Thomas intends to plead guilty to a federal crime, according to the Department of Justice.

New information was released Tuesday in the case against the 3rd Ward councilman, former attorney and past Belmont County commissioner who had been set to go to trial July 11.

Instead he will appear in federal court for a change of plea hearing Aug. 5.

“Mark Thomas has agreed to plead guilty to mail fraud. Mail fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, up to $250,000 in fines, restitution and forfeiture,” Jennifer Thornton, spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, said Tuesday via email. “We will provide any further details when the court officially accepts the plea at the hearing on Aug. 5.

“He’s pleading to one count of mail fraud,” she elaborated in a later email. “At the federal level we do not have different degrees of felonies. … This is not a misdemeanor crime. … And there’s no agreement regarding sentencing included in the plea.

“The Court determines the sentence based on the federal sentencing guidelines.”

Thomas, 61, originally was charged with four counts of felony mail fraud, based on allegations that he abused his status as power of attorney for an elderly client with dementia and stole more than $500,000 from her.

He will appear before Judge Algenon L. Marbley of the U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio for the August hearing. Neither Thomas nor his defense attorney, Andy Avellano, responded to messages asking for comment.

The indictment states that Thomas was accused of defrauding the client from 2012 through August 2019 while serving as her power of attorney, taking her money without her knowledge or permission and using it for his own benefit. His client was 85 years old when the alleged offenses began. The indictment also alleges Thomas improperly used the power of attorney and his status as a lawyer after his law license was revoked in 2015 to convince entities, including banks and life insurance companies, to transfer the victim’s money for his use.

After his term as a county commissioner ended in December 2018, Thomas was sentenced to 30 days in jail for contempt of a county court in 2019 for failing to comply with a court order to turn over documents from his private law practice related to the power of attorney. He later complied with the records request and a lawsuit related to that case was dismissed.

The fraud charges and contempt charge had no connection to Thomas’ role as an elected official.

In 2015, the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct in Columbus suspended Thomas’ law license in Ohio after he reportedly failed to file an answer to a formal complaint pending before the board. His law license remains suspended in Ohio and West Virginia.

On Nov. 2, Thomas was elected 3rd Ward councilman for the city of St. Clairsville.

Belmont County Board of Elections Director Aaron Moore said during the election that Thomas’ name would appear on the ballot, since he was innocent until proven guilty. He said his office’s role is limited in any future proceedings regarding a council seat.

“We can’t do anything until everything is final and complete,” he said. “It’s up to the city of St. Clairsville to handle the situation. We would look into it and help them with whatever information they might need to receive. At this point — until things are final — there’s really nothing in our part to really do.

“We don’t know how anything would be handled of course until it all is official,” Moore said. “They have a charter. … We’d have to research ourself to make sure the charter wouldn’t have anything specific in it that’s different from how normal cities would run.”

City officials took a similar position.

“At this point and time, even though there’s speculation that there’s going to be a plea, nothing has changed until he actually goes through the court process and there’s a decision out of the court, so nothing really can be done or considered until the charges are finalized in court,” St. Clairsville City Council President Jim Velas said. “We really won’t know anything until after the hearing that takes place in August.”

Velas said there has been no talk among council members about the possibility of filling Thomas’ seat should he vacate it.

“That’s not even in discussion right now until we actually are looking at whether or not we’re going to have a vacancy,” Velas said. “There’s nothing really to say (until the hearing), it would all be speculation.”

The city charter specifies under Article III Council, Section 4. Vacancy-Creation of, that “Once elected and sworn in, a member of Council shall vacate his office … By conviction while in office of a crime involving moral turpitude. …”

St. Clairsville Mayor Kathryn Thalman and Law Director Elizabeth Glick did not respond to messages asking for comment or information on council’s intentions moving forward.