Lorain County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson, Chief of Staff Jim Burge charged with felony intimidation

Lorain County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson and his Chief of Staff Jim Burge both have been charged with multiple felonies for allegedly intimidating a witness in an existing investigation. Tomlinson and Burge both were charged Tuesday with felony intimidation and tampering with evidence, and Tomlinson also was charged with attempted bribery, another felony. The charges were filed in Elyria Municipal Court by the Lorain County Sheriff's Office. The charges came after Capt. Robert Vansant of the Sheriff's Office filed an affidavit with visiting Judge Patrick Carroll, who found probable cause to charge Tomlinson and Burge. On Tuesday, Tomlinson issued a statement to the Chronicle-Telegram calling the charges political in nature. An affidavit included with the charges alleges that between Aug. 5 and 29, 2024, Burge and Tomlinson attempted to convince Tomlinson's former girlfriend and employee Jennifer Battistelli to sign false statements about her relationship with the prosecutor. Vansant writes in the affidavit that Battistelli is a "key witness" in a joint investigation by the Sheriff's Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the state Auditor's Office into the the Prosecutor's Office, including an Oct. 17, 2023, settlement that paid Battistelli $100,000 after she resigned from the Prosecutor's Office. That settlement came after Battistelli, through her then-attorney Jack Moran, prepared a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint about her treatment in the office by Tomlinson. The charges filed Tuesday accuse Tomlinson and Burge of attempting to undermine that joint investigation by repeatedly attempting to convince Battistelli to "take back" her claims made in that EEOC complaint. Those claims include an allegation that Tomlinson grabbed, pushed and shook Battistelli during an argument in his office in August 2023. In the year that followed, the affidavit alleges that Tomlinson and Burge engaged in a pattern of harassment and pressure to try and get Battistelli to amend or retract her allegations against Tomlinson. For Battistelli, that year ended with a trip to Montana with Tomlinson. A trip that she told investigators she eventually fled in the middle of the night, afraid for her life. A trip to Montana On Aug. 28, 2024, just over a year after the alleged office confrontation and around 10 months after the county paid Battistelli a $100,000 settlement, she met Tomlinson in Montana for a trip. The affidavit said that on Aug. 5, shortly before the trip began, Battistelli had received an email from Prosecutor's Office administrative assistant Maureen Matincin that included a statement prepared by the Prosecutor's Office for Battistelli. Vansant wrote that the statement "contains several falsehoods," and was meant for Battistelli to share publicly in an effort to exonerate Tomlinson and claim there was a "conspiracy" to oust him from office. The affidavit said that Tomlinson and Battistelli had been regularly fighting in the year since Aug. 15, 2023, often arguing specifically about Tomlinson's alleged requests for Battistelli to recant her accusations against him. Battistelli told investigators she did not know how she was convinced to go on the trip, but that she did not tell anyone she was going and that when she arrived "J.D. looked different." While on the trip, they began arguing about the October settlement and what had happened on Aug. 15. "Battistelli felt that Tomlinson was trying to get her to release an untrue story publicly," the affidavit said. Battistelli told investigators that Tomlinson wanted her to say that rather than grabbing her and shaking her on Aug. 15, Tomlinson had been trying to calm her down because she was "enraged." "At this point, Battistelli indicated she knew 'a storm was brewing,' and her mind was focused on how to get out of there," Vansant wrote in the affidavit. "She noted that she realized that Tomlinson had brought her not to bond with him, but to confirm his false narrative." During this argument they began to yell, and the affidavit said that eventually Tomlinson was yelling and "in her face." "When Battistelli tried to go to the room, (Tomlinson) cornered her and was shouting that she took his money and that he didn't owe her s—," the affidavit said. "Tomlinson refused to allow her to go to her room and was jumping up and down and screaming at her." Battistelli told investigators that at this point Tomlinson took her phone for some amount of time, but eventually returned it to her. Once he returned it, Battistelli said she began trying to find a way home and found a flight back at 10 a.m. "She said she was terrified because no one knew she was there, and she did not know how to get out," the affidavit said. "Battistelli eventually decided to sneak out when Tomlinson was asleep, take an Uber to the airport and fly home alone." According to the affidavit, between the time that Battistelli left and when she boarded the plane, Tomlinson called her a total of 126 times and "sent numerous texts." "Battistelli said she thanked God she had gotten out of there alive," the affidavit said. Just over a week after the Montana trip, Battistelli met with Vansant and other investigators and began to lay out her accusations that Tomlinson and Burge had attempted to get her to change her story. Attorney Kenneth Lieux, representing Battistelli, said Tuesday that his client is eager for the situation to end. An office romance A cascade of interconnected investigations, settlements, and lawsuits began on Aug. 15, 2023, when Battistelli says that she confronted Tomlinson in his office about her being written up. Battistelli had worked on Tomlinson's campaign for Lorain County prosecutor, and she took a job in the Prosecutor's Office when Tomlinson won that race and filled the office in January 2021. The pair, who Tomlinson has said have been friends for several years, began dating in either April or May 2021 and disclosed that relationship to Assistant County Prosecutor Dan Petticord, who is running for Common Pleas Court judge, according to the affidavit. At some point, the affidavit said, Battistelli learned that Tomlinson was talking to other women via Facebook, at which point their relationship began to sour. In April 2023, Tomlinson took another woman as a date to a fundraiser, after which the affidavit said he became "obsessive with (Battistelli) calling her as many as one hundred times a day." A few months later, on Aug. 15, 2023, Battistelli confronted Tomlinson over the fact she was written up for her conduct in the office. During that confrontation, Battistelli alleged to the Sheriff's Office, Tomlinson "grabbed her, threw her on the couch and shook her." This act allegedly left bruises on Battistelli's arms which she took pictures of and showed to Tomlinson, Burge and eventually Vansant during an interview in July 2024. Battistelli quit the next day but eventually signed — but did not submit — an EEOC complaint outlining Tomlinson's alleged mistreatment of her in the office, including his actions on Aug. 15 and his "holding her employment over her head to engage in a sexual relationship." Attorney Jack Moran represented Battistelli initially, helping her take her complaints to the Prosecutor's Office. They eventually came to a settlement, with the Prosecutor's Office agreeing to pay Battistelli $100,000. That payment was approved by the Lorain County Commissioners during a meeting on Oct. 17, 2023. According to the affidavit, that settlement was not paid through the county insurance plan, but was instead paid with requisitions from the Prosecutor's salary budget. That payment quickly came under public scrutiny, with the lawsuit and the documentation behind it both becoming subject to lawsuits. Eventually, the Sheriff's Office, the FBI and the Auditor's Office launched their joint investigation into the settlement, as well as the conduct of Tomlinson within the Prosecutor's Office more broadly. This April, Sheriff Phil Stammitti requested a special prosecutor and special grand jury to launch an inquiry into the issue, but that request has stalled as the Prosecutor's Office has appealed several rulings from Ohio Ninth District Court of Appeals Judge Thomas Teodosio. It was during this dormant period in the initial investigation that the affidavit alleges Burge and Tomlinson attempted to get Battistelli to retract or alter her original statements about Tomlinson. "Despite the original investigation being stalled, Tomlinson and Burge have tried to tamper with Battistelli, a crucial witness, by urging and soliciting her to adopt a false narrative to undermine the investigation," Vansant wrote in the affidavit. Dueling narratives Throughout the affidavit, Vansant points to instances of Burge and Tomlinson allegedly trying to pressure Battistelli to sign or publicly make new statements contrary to what she claimed in the EOCC report. She said those efforts began immediately after her confrontation with Tomlinson, when Burge handed her a handwritten letter to type up and sign herself which contained "false information" about the incident. She said he gave her this letter before she had even quit on Aug. 16, 2023. The affidavit said that repeatedly over the next several months both Tomlinson and Burge attempted to convince Battistelli to sign affidavits and statements saying that her allegations in the EEOC were untrue and that Moran had written the EEOC without her input. Battistelli said that she stood by her allegations and though Moran had written the actual EEOC, he had done so under her direction, with accurate information provided by her. "Battistelli indicated that Burge and Tomlinson have attempted to have her retract allegations, even though they are true," the affidavit said. "Battistelli said she felt harassed and intimidated by their efforts." The scope of the charges filed Tuesday covers only Aug. 5 through Aug. 29 2024, starting from the day Battistelli received the emailed statement and running through the end of the Montana trip. The Aug. 5 email from the Prosecutor's Office allegedly included a letter for Battistelli to sign containing a number of allegations that the affidavit claims to be untrue. According to the affidavit, that letter included allegations that Moran and Lieux, Battistelli's current attorney, were each involved in a conspiracy to remove Tomlinson from office. "The investigation has shown that those allegations are false," the affidavit said. "You affiant (Vansant), the Ohio Auditor's Office and the FBI are investigating where the facts lead. There has been no conspiracy to remove Tomlinson from the office." Also included in the affidavit were text messages between Tomlinson and Battistelli that it said had been obtained by the FBI. In one of those messages sent this summer, Tomlinson attempts to convince Battistelli to meet him for dinner, even allegedly offering her money to do so. "Tomlinson begs her to have dinner with him and offers her "$100 just to meet for dinner,'" the affidavit said. "Battistelli does not agree to meet him, and Tomlinson texts, 'I'll give you $500 if you meet me for dinner!'" Additionally, the affidavit alleges that Tomlinson would frequently make unwelcome visits to Battistelli's house to try and convince her to amend her allegations. "Throughout the investigation, Tomlinson has continuously contacted Battistelli, attempting to get her to take things back, including showing up at her residence by sneaking through backyards so Tomlinson would not be seen or captured on her Ring Doorbell camera," the affidavit said. All of these allegations together, the affidavit argued, point to a pattern of criminal acts by Burge and Tomlinson attempting to convince her to change her previous statements so as to not harm Tomlinson. The original complaint was filed with the Lorain County Sheriff's Office by Lieux on Aug. 16, exactly one year after Battistelli quit the Prosecutor's Office. Vansant said he attempted to serve Burge and Tomlinson Tuesday with the charges at their offices at the Lorain County Justice Center but they had already left for the day. There is no warrant for Burge or Tomlinson's arrest, rather they will receive a summons to appear in court before Carroll on Thursday. A message seeking comment was left for Burge, but it was not returned. Tomlinson, a Democrat, is currently running for reelection as prosecutor against his former employee Tony Cillo, a Republican. In a short statement shared Tuesday night, Tomlinson said that the charges filed against himself and Burge were a political ploy led by Sheriff Phil Stammitti, himself a Democrat. "This is just another feeble attempt by Sheriff Stammitti, in conspiracy with my predecessor, Dennis Will, and my opponent, Tony Cillo, to bypass the democratic process and interfere with this election," Tomlinson said. "Sheriff Stammitti created these political positions in the Sheriff's Office for Mr. Cillo and Mr. Will specifically to achieve this goal, on the taxpayers dime. And they'll continue until they're stopped." Vansant provided a comment on behalf of Stammitti, who is not seeking reelection this November. "It's an unfortunate circumstance, but that's the circumstance that they (Tomlinson and Burge) chose," Vansant said. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.