COLUMBUS (AP) — A former court mediator from northeast Ohio is accused of sending about three-dozen feces-filled letters to lawmakers around the country, including Ohio’s 25 Republican state senators in early July.
Richard Steinle, 77, from Mogadore, and former Portage County Common Pleas Court mediator, was arrested Friday.
He is charged with sending “injurious articles as nonmailable,” violating a federal law that prohibits mailing certain things, including hazardous material, according to court records.
The feces mailed to Ohio legislators prompted an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, but investigators say Steinle has sent such letters to elected officials since August 2021, including those in Washington D.C., Kentucky, California and Ohio.