Jackson Township attorney accused of stealing nearly $900K via real estate transactions
CANTON ‒ A former attorney has pleaded not guilty to 22 criminal charges, including allegations he stole a total of $882,109 from seven people.
The charges against William R. Sparks, 71, of Jackson Township, involve real estate transactions.
The indictment alleges that he used his title company, American Realty Title Assurance Company of Stark County, Inc., to commit the offenses, said Dominic Binkley, a spokesman for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
Yost's office is involved with the case because an assistant attorney general, Micah Ault, is serving as a special prosecutor.
Five of the seven victims named in Sparks' indictment match those in a complaint filed in June 2020 by the Stark County Bar Association against him with the Board of Professional Conduct of the Ohio Supreme Court.
A sixth victim identified in the indictment told The Repository his losses were incurred in a real estate transaction. The amounts listed in the indictment are the same as amounts in the bar association complaint for the five victims identified in both documents.
Sparks resigned from the practice of law in October 2020 while the disciplinary action was pending against him.
The charges lodged against him in court are engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, five counts of theft from a person in a protected class, six counts of money laundering, four counts of aggravated theft, three counts of passing bad checks, two counts of grand theft and a single count of theft. The time frame of the alleged offenses is Aug. 15, 2018, to Nov. 7, 2020.
Sparks is represented by attorney Jeffrey Jakmides. He had no comment on the case, which is pending in Stark County Common Pleas Court,.
The methods for the alleged thefts are not detailed in the indictment.
However, the bar association complaint said that Sparks withdrew money from an escrow account for his own use. The funds in the escrow account are supposed to be paid out to parties in a real estate transaction. The allegation matches two aggravated theft charges in the indictment that allege Sparks took $229,365 from the same two people named in the bar association complaint.
Another allegation in the bar association complaint said that he deposited a $233,444 check payable to one of his clients into his own account. The name and amount match two aggravated theft charges in the criminal indictment.
Other charges in the indictment allege that Sparks took amounts of $164,228, $120,160, $90,000 and $44,911 from four other people.
William R. Sparks: Stark County attorney resigns with disciplinary case pending
Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter: @nmolnarTR.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Former lawyer William R. Sparks pleads not guilty to 22 charges
