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James McNair for City Beat: Stan Chesley wanted in Ky, but Cincinnati isn’t interested in delivering him


More than a year after a Kentucky judge ordered the arrest of high-profile former lawyer Stan Chesley, it appears less and less likely that the Ohio criminal justice system will have anything to do with his apprehension.

The arrest warrant, issued Oct. 29, 2015, by Boone County Circuit Judge James Schrand, has become something of a loose skunk in the Hamilton County courthouse. The warrant is still active, and the Boone County Sheriff’s office would like it to be served. But Hamilton County’s top law enforcers have circled their wagons to protect Chesley, an Indian Hill resident, from the shame of being booked in Burlington.

Stan Chesley

Stan Chesley

As detailed by news outlets all the way up to the Wall Street Journal, Schrand issued the contempt-of-court warrant after Chesley failed to show up for a hearing on an unpaid $42 million civil judgment. About $25 million of that remains due to fen-phen scam victims who were further scammed by Chesley and three other lawyers who represented them. Kentucky barred Chesley from further plying his trade as a lawyer in the state. He retired before Ohio and other states followed suit.

Soon after he became a wanted man, Chesley filed suit in Hamilton County to stop Sheriff Jim Neil from arresting him. Boone County was not a party to the suit and wasn’t able to defend the warrant. On Nov. 19, 2015, Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert Ruehlman declared the warrant “ambiguous concerning the nature of Chesley’s purported contempt.” He wrote that Chesley is “entitled to preliminary relief holding that the warrant needs extraordinary treatment and handling in Ohio.” He ordered that any attempt at arrest go through him first. . .

Angela Ford, the Lexington, Ky., attorney who represents the fen-phen victims, is appalled by Hamilton County’s refusal to serve the warrant.

“Judges are not empowered to selectively enforce the law,” she says. “Joe Deters has received a great deal of money from Stan Chesley and his office clearly has a conflict of interest. Governor Kasich should give some attention to this level of lawlessness. What if Kentucky decides not to honor arrest warrants from Ohio?”

See the whole story here. Contact jmcnair@citybeat.com, 513-914-2736 or @jmacnews


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