A former Summit County deputy accused of theft had previously been arrested for theft before SCSO hired him

AKRON, Ohio (WOIO) – 19 Investigators have learned that a former Summit County sheriff’s deputy – accused of stealing thousands of dollars in overtime pay – had two previous arrests for theft. Records show the arrests occurred years before SCSO hired him as a deputy.

So now the question is why did SCSO hire him in the first place?

In September 2021, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office hired Marcello Thomas to serve as a jail deputy.

Last month 19 Research first reported a grand jury secretly indicted Marcello Thomas on 12 felonies after investigators found he stole thousands of dollars in overtime that he didn’t work.

Thomas reportedly stole more than 380 hours of overtime between December 2023 and May 2024, totaling $21,157.23..

Investigators began looking into Thomas’s background and discovered that he had been arrested in the past on similar charges.

In July 2013, while Thomas was working at North Coast Auto in Bedford, a video camera picked up his manager’s iPhone and placed it in his left front pocket, according to the videos.

This phone was later traced to Thomas’ home.

The report states that his manager called him and asked him to hand over his phone – to no avail.

As days passed with no response, the manager pressed charges.

Records show Thomas was originally charged with theft, but stated he had “no contest” to the reduced disorderly conduct charge.

The following year, records show that Thomas was once again charged with theft.

This time for stealing $802 from Sprint Wireless in Independence on April 23, 2014.

Thomas said he did not object to the reduced charge for “unauthorized use of property.”

The judge sentenced Thomas to 30 days in jail, with the sentence suspended.

He was also ordered to complete a shoplifting course, repay the money, perform 100 hours of community service – and was placed on probation.

In 2017, records show he violated his probation and was sentenced to 10 days in jail.

We asked SCSO if they did a background check on Thomas before hiring them – they did not respond.

We also spoke to Thomas by phone, but he chose not to comment on the situation.

He is currently facing a total of 12 charges: one for theft in the office, one for attempted theft in the office and 10 for tampering with documents.

Thomas “pleaded not guilty” to all charges.

His second pretrial hearing is scheduled for Nov. 5 in Summit County Common Pleas Court.