Weller Unanimously Defeats Urbana Charges at State Court

Dayton, OH – On Wednesday, the Court of Appeals of Ohio issued a 3-0 decision in the case of Ohio v. Weller. The court ruled in favor of Justin T. Weller’s appeal of his theft conviction in the Champaign County Municipal Court in Urbana.

Judge Christopher B. Epley wrote the decision saying, "...we [The Court of Appeals of Ohio] conclude that Weller’s conviction for theft was against the manifest weight of the evidence...The trial court’s judgment will be reversed." Judges Jeffrey M. Welbaum and Ronald C. Lewis concurred.

“I am incredibly thankful justice has been served today,” Weller commented. “It’s been a taxing and stressful process to face prosecution for a crime you know you didn’t commit and something I never thought I would be faced with.”

The roots of this case date to August 2023, when charges were filed by the Director of Law for the City of Urbana, Mark Feinstein. The original case incorrectly alleged that Weller stole property from a former tenant that rented from his company, Urbana Tomorrow.

According to local municipal court records, Feinstein filed the case and then recused himself only a few days later, assigning the lead prosecutor for the City of Springfield, Matthew B. Dibartola, to proceed. Feinstein was an appointee of Mayor Bill Bean, whom Weller challenged in the 2019 mayoral election.

After hearing several hours of arguments in which the prosecution’s lead witness, the alleged victim, took the stand and admitted to lying to Weller on multiple occasions with the purpose of deceiving him, the trial court found Weller guilty of theft. It imposed and suspended a 30-day jail sentence and ordered Weller to pay a fine plus court costs. Upon the conclusion of the bench trial – one in which no jury is present – Weller’s attorney Matthew T. Watson, immediately informed the court of his client’s intention to appeal.

“The entire thing was surreal. We are sitting in court and our attorney gets their [the prosecution’s] only real witness to admit to lying to me on multiple occasions,” Weller explained. “We were coming back from lunch and thought the case was pretty well wrapped up after that admission. Little did we know common sense and the law would not prevail that day.”

Weller suggests the case didn’t smell right from the beginning. “It wasn’t clear why it was acceptable for the Urbana prosecutor [Feinstein] to file charges against me and then take himself off the case. If there was a conflict, how could he have been objective in filing the charges in the first place?”

There’s no apparent modern precedent in the City of Urbana for the prosecutor to file charges like this against a landlord and subsequently recuse himself. Weller is the only known case. The Appeals Court decision cited numerous, previously decided cases in other parts of Ohio that indicated Weller could not have broken any laws based on the evidence.

In a separate recent legal filing, Weller claims that certain actions by the Bean Administration at the City of Urbana demonstrate a continuing course of discriminatory and illegal conduct in an effort to adopt and enforce an official policy or custom to deprive Weller and his businesses of their constitutional rights and privileges.

“I tried on many occasions after the 2019 election to make peace, but they’ve rebuffed and attempted to suppress and diminish me at every turn,” Weller stated. “It leaves me wondering how they will try to target me next.”

In the 2019 Urbana mayoral election, Bean was the two-term incumbent Republican, challenged by Weller, an Independent. The election was remarkably close with about 250 votes allowing Bean to secure his current term. Shortly thereafter, Weller asserts that he remained committed to trying to improve his community and subsequently started the Urbana Youth Center to address the high rate of child poverty and improve opportunities for students. On more than one documented occasion, Weller requested assistance from Bean and other members of the mayor’s administration. All requests were declined or never received a response.

In 2023, Weller had secured a commitment of millions in State of Ohio funding to support an expansion of the Urbana Youth Center’s facilities. After contracts had been signed and a groundbreaking had been held – which Bean was invited to but did not attend – funding was suddenly placed on hold, pending a new requirement: a letter of support from the City of Urbana. Weller requested the letter and was denied without explanation.

“They’ve done damages to the tune of several million dollars to the children of Urbana in the name of hurting me. It’s truly despicable behavior,” Weller said.

Weller says he also started a property company to help redevelop Urbana. “After outbidding the city for one such property, I was served with code violations the day I picked up the deed and was given ten days to comply,” Weller explained.

The property Weller mentions is no longer standing. The City of Urbana tore down the structure against Weller’s expressed desires. Weller had submitted a letter refuting the Bean Administration’s allegations and laying out a plan to continue renovations of the property. He received no response before the property was demolished.

These events culminated in the attempted criminal prosecution of Weller, which has now subsequently failed, but not before costing untold amounts according to Weller.

“This appeal was about principle. Right and wrong. The Bean Administration made me out to be a criminal. They could have, quite literally, taken away my freedom and put me in jail. They tried to. Thankfully, we fought hard and prevailed. But my freedom wasn’t free,” Weller said. “It cost more than I ever knew it could, in time, money, and frustration. I just keep wondering, what are all the ways I could have been doing something productive, making things better in my community? Wasn’t there a more intelligent use of taxpayer dollars than the Bean Administration trying to pin me with a crime I didn’t commit?”