Tom Noe epitomized the GOP's corruption in Ohio. When the Toledo Blade uncovered his rare coin scam last year, the unraveling of the cesspool that was the Ohio Republican party began. Now, the GOP is in political shambles and Noe is going to jail for a very long time:
Tom Noe, convicted of stealing millions from a fund for Ohio’s injured workers to live a fraudulent lifestyle that included luxury homes in two states, will pass into retirement age in a prison uniform.The Toledo Blade broke the Noe story in early April of 2005. The GOP's top leaders from Governor Taft to Ken Blackwell all jumped to Noe's defense. They've all gotten what they deserved.
Judge Thomas Osowik, citing the “overwhelming evidence” against Noe, 52, sentenced him to serve 18 years in a state prison, and for the sentence to begin after he serves 27 months on an unrelated federal offense.
Noe would be 72 when released.
Judge Osowik said Noe, the former Republican fund-raiser who helped the successful campaigns of Gov. Bob Taft and President Bush, took the money from the rare-coin funds he managed for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation “for one purpose: to present some type of facade that you had this bottomless cup of wealth and luxury at your disposal when in fact it was at the state’s expense.”
