Todd Hill

Reporter

BUCYRUS - Mark Callicoat's days as a police officer in the state are over for good.

In exchange for his guilty plea to one of three charges filed against him, Callicoat, 35, a former cop with the village of Crestline, must forfeit his Ohio peace officer certificate. The rest of Callicoat's settlement, agreed to Tuesday in Crawford County Common Pleas Court, included the dismissal of the other two charges. The former police officer was placed on unpaid leave last November after being indicted following an investigation into allegations that officers in Crestline were dismissing tickets for sexual favors.

Callicoat was originally charged with bribery, a third-degree felony; falsification, a first-degree misdemeanor; and dereliction of duty, a second-degree misdemeanor. Callicoat could have faced as many as three years in prison if found guilty on the bribery charge.

As part of the plea deal agreed to Tuesday by the state attorney's general office and Callicoat's Columbus attorney, Julie Keys, Callicoat pleaded guilty to falsification while the other charges were dropped and his peace officer certificate was forfeited. Callicoat was sentenced by Crawford County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold to 90 days in the county jail on the falsification charge, with all 90 days suspended, plus one year of probation.

"This is a very difficult case with very serious allegations," Leuthold said. "It has been the subject of a great deal of negotiation. If the state is satisfied with this agreement, I have no reason not to follow its recommendation."

"One reason we felt resolving this through a mutual plea agreement was a fair resolution is because he (Callicoat) will not be a peace officer in the state of Ohio moving forward," Dan Tierney, a spokesperson for state attorney general Mike DeWine's office, said.

"Another reason we felt this was a just resolution is because not going to trial is better for the victim," he said, noting that there was at least one victim in the case.

Callicoat was placed on unpaid leave at the beginning of November 2015, following his indictment on the three original charges by a Crawford County grand jury.

"The department will continue to cooperate with the special prosecutor. Maintaining the trust of our community is the focus of my administration," Crestline Police Chief Joseph Butler said at the time.

Shortly afterward, the county prosecutor's office recused itself from prosecuting the case to, it said, encourage the public's trust, and the state attorney general's office took up the case.

In January 2015 the Crestline Police Department asked the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation to look into allegations that one or more officers were dismissing tickets for sexual favors. The allegation was made by one resident on social media, but did not name a specific officer involved.

"It's funny how Crestline cops are trading tickets for sexual favors. Something needs to be done," Crestline resident Matt Carrol wrote on his Facebook page in December 2014.

Callicoat's bribery indictment alleged that he "did knowingly solicit a thing or valuable benefit for himself to corrupt or improperly influence him with" on or about Dec. 24, 2015. The one-page document did not mention a victim or include additional details.

thill3@nncogannett.com

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Twitter: @ToddHillMNJ