COLUMBUS, Ohio—Tom Noe, the central figure in the 2005 “Coingate” scandal, is among the 200-plus Ohio prison inmates Gov. Mike DeWine is recommending for early release because of the coronavirus threat.

Noe, 65, is currently in year 14 of his 18-year sentence for looting a $50 million rare-coin investment portfolio he managed for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. He’s incarcerated at the Marion Correctional Institution, where five inmates and a number of staffers have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Monday.

The Ohio Parole Board previously voted three times not to recommend clemency for Noe.

Noe is one of 26 inmates flagged by DeWine to send to the Ohio Parole Board to consider for early release. All 26 are aged 60 or older, have served at least half their sentence, and have an underlying medical condition that makes them particularly in danger of dying if they contract the virus, the governor said.

“It just seemed to me fair to everybody to treat everybody the same in that group, send them off to the Parole Board, see what the Parole Board does, and see where we go in the process from there,” DeWine said, who added later: “We wouldn’t have done this without the coronavirus, frankly.”

DeWine said the Parole Board will begin meeting Friday to consider whether to recommend that the governor grant clemency to each of the 26 inmates.

Noe was once a rising Republican star, chairing the Lucas County Republican Party and serving on the Ohio Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s public colleges and universities.

He was convicted of racketeering, money laundering, aggravated theft, forgery and tampering with records. The jury estimated he stole $1.1 million from the state.

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