Harry Fishleigh Pleads Guilty To Embezzlement, Resigns From Planning Commission

Harry Fishleigh III, the man who was chairman of Mentor's Planning Commission until recently, has pleaded guilty to embezzlement in the Northern District of Ohio U.S. Federal Court.

He has also resigned from the city's Planning Commission and is not expected to be at its meeting 7 p.m. today at .

Fishleigh was charged with embezzlement on Sept. 20 via an information. According to the information, he took $97,000 from a retirement plan. .

Fishleigh is not accused of taking money from the city of Mentor. Instead, the allegations stem from his role as the trustee of the North Coast Wood Products Profit Sharing Plan

According to the Labor Department, Fishleigh improperly transferred $97,000 in plan assets to his son, Steven Fishleigh.

Specifically, that Fishleigh transferred the plan's total assets, belonging to 11 participants, to his son from July 2006 to July 2009. Fishleigh was president and part owner of Mentor-based North Coast Wood Products Inc., which closed in late 2005.

Fishleigh pleaded guilty to embezzlement before Judge Patricia Gaughan on Sept. 27. He is out on a $20,000 bond.

According to court records, Fishleigh has a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office. However, the terms of that agreement are not public record.

His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 21.

The information, which describes the charge that Fishleigh pleaded guilty to, is attached to this story as a PDF.