Ohio business owner appeals 180-day jail sentence for contempt of court in decades-long legal battle

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — A Jefferson County business owner has filed notice of his intent to appeal after being sentenced to 180 days in jail for contempt of court.

According to media partner Herald-Star, Joseph Scugoza, owner of Crossridge Landfill, was booked into the Jefferson County Jail on Tuesday after being found guilty of “indirect contempt” for failing to comply with so-called “purge” conditions. set in February. 2023.

The Ohio Public Defender Commission defines indirect contempt as “deliberate disobedience of court orders outside of court, making it more difficult for the court to do its job.” »

Herald-Star reports that Judge Richard McMonagle had sentenced Scugoza to 200 days in jail in July 2021 for civil contempt due to his alleged failure to close the landfill and properly fulfill his post-closure obligations, but he appealed and the higher court granted its decision. motion to suspend the prison sentence, finding that the conditions of serving the trial court “lacked precision and the prison sentence was excessive”.

According to the outlet, in February 2023, McMonagle reduced the prison sentence to 30 days, but kept it in abeyance while he waited for Scugoza to comply with his terms of serving – depositing $10,000 a month into a trust fund for cover appropriate site closure and post-closure care. dump; ensure the landfill leachate management system “is operated as intended”, including, among other things, the installation of pumps and flow meters as well as high level alarms with an advanced telemetry system and keeping open the valve connecting the leachate to the storage system; and remove 750 tons of solid waste from the recycling area per month.

The case is believed to stem from Ohio's two-decade effort to hold Scugoza and his now-deceased parents, Joseph and Barbara Scugoza, responsible for alleged environmental violations at Crossridge and its sister company, C&L Disposal Technology.