Toledoan indicted by grand jury in Ottawa County

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A trial is scheduled for Jan. 31 in Ottawa County Common Pleas Court in the case of a Toledo man charged with engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, money laundering, and possessing criminal tools.
Richard McCune, 63, was taken into custody by the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office after a search warrant was executed Dec. 1 at an apartment complex on Talmadge Road in Toledo.
Sheriff Stephen Levorchick said the arrest stems from an investigation of several months into reports of numerous thefts of catalytic converters in Ottawa and neighboring counties.
Local businesses, auto dealerships and residences appear to have been targeted, according to a press release by the sheriff’s office.
“The search warrant led to the seizure of multiple items, including catalytic converters,” the press release says.
According to court records, authorities contend McCune was a party to the theft of catalytic converters throughout Northwest Ohio and sold them to businesses in Ohio and Michigan. The records name Top Dollar Core, Interstate Core, Stray Catz, M&M Core, and Rada’s as some of the businesses where the converters were sold and that an informant cooperating with law enforcement officers contacted McCune to sell him catalytic converters the informant said had been stolen in Ottawa County.
There were at least three such sales to McCune, according to the records.
McCune was indicted Dec. 8. He faces one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a first degree felony; three counts of money laundering, a third degree felony, and one count of possessing criminal tools, a fifth degree felony.
He entered a plea of not guilty to all charges.
According to the indictment, McCune was in possession of approximately $3,672 in cash, which was “contraband and/or property derived from or through the commission of the offense.”
He was also in possession of a 2012 Ford van that the indictment argues was used to transport drugs or drug proceeds and is subject to forfeiture rules if McCune is convicted.
In addition to the sheriff’s office, the Perrysburg Township Police Department, Oregon Police Department, Oregon SWAT team and Ottawa County Drug Task Force participated in the investigation.
Conditions of McCune’s bond require him to reside at his Talmadge Road apartment and be at the apartment between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. He must also wear a GPS monitor and forfeit a passport as well as submit to drug/alcohol testing.
On Dec. 27, his attorney filed a motion with the court to modify his bond conditions to allow him to travel to California for four days to attend his daughter’s wedding. As of Dec. 29, there wasn’t a response listed on the clerk of court website.