O'Brien protects his buddy, but Pirik is still guilty

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 11, 2006
 

PIRIK TO PLEAD GUILTY

DEMOCRATS WERE RIGHT, O’BRIEN WAS WRONG

For months, Prosecutor Ron O’Brien denied the allegations of criminal misconduct against Michael A. Pirik, former Franklin County Municipal Court clerk.  Despite these denials, Pirik is set to plead guilty to a fourth degree felony count of conspiracy to tamper with records next week. 

Five clerk employees originally brought claims against Pirik in January 2005, only to have them summarily dismissed by the prosecutor’s office.  The same employees went back to O’Brien with additional evidence in August 2005.  O’Brien, once again, refused to take the allegations seriously.  It was at this point that the Franklin County Democratic Party launched a public relations campaign to pressure O’Brien into appointing a special prosecutor who would act without political bias.

“At first, we were certainly dismayed by Prosecutor O’Brien’s repeated insistence that Pirik was innocent,” said William A. Anthony Jr., chair of the Franklin County Democratic Party.  “But we persisted.” 

“We said all along that Mr. O’Brien had three options: he could continue to do nothing and allow the culture of corruption to spread; he could pursue charges against Pirik; or he could appoint a special prosecutor who would act without delay or partisan bias.  While Mr. O’Brien clearly opted for the first alternative—to do nothing—we repeatedly insisted that he choose the third.”

“We now call upon special prosecutor David Yost to finish the job that Ron O’Brien refused to do in the first place  Mr. Yost should set an example of Mike Pirik and ask for the maximum sentence of 18 months in prison.  Mr. Yost must send a clear message that this rampant culture of corruption will no longer be tolerated in Franklin County or the rest of Ohio.”

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Contact: William A. Anthony or Mark Rutkus at (614) 224-1193 or mailto:dan@ohiodems.org