Dann fires new hires

For the second time in two months, Ohio's top law enforcement officer has had to fire a state employee because of shady behavior.

Attorney General Marc Dann, a Youngstown Democrat, fired his deputy security director last week after a national background check found he was convicted in 1976 of involuntary manslaughter for a fatal shooting in Pennsylvania.

David L. Nelson, 57, of Youngstown worked three days a week as Dann's driver and security aide since February.

Nelson did not disclose the conviction, for which he served four months in jail, on his state job application. The application only asks to disclose felonies. (Involuntary manslaughter is a first-degree misdemeanor in Pennsylvania.) Details were broken Thursday by the Warren Tribune Chronicle and Youngstown Vindicator.

Nelson passed a state background check, but failed a national check when he applied for a job with the Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, to transport evidence.

In April, Dann fired his top law enforcement adviser after learning that the state employee continued to draw a salary from his former employer, the Youngstown Police Department.

Elrico "Rick" Alli lost his $112,000-per-year job running the criminal investigations bureau known as BCI.

Dann beat Auditor Betty D. Montgomery in November during a campaign in which he criticized her and former Gov. Bob Taft of being part of a larger culture of corruption and unethical behavior.