Saying the public trust he had inspired by setting up a charitable fund in the memory of his slain police officer son warranted it, a Lucas County judge sent Younes “Tony” Dia to jail Wednesday for taking more than $26,000 from that charity.
Martin McManus, the defense lawyer for Dia, 55, had asked visiting Lucas County Common Pleas Judge James Bates to allow him to serve any incarceration time for his guilty pleas to grand theft and telecommunications fraud, both fourth-degree felonies, in work release so he could continue to support his family.
But Judge Bates said that Dia’s conduct went beyond a routine theft because of its circumstances, and thus “I’m going to put you in jail for a while.”…