Copley Grandfather Pleads Not Guilty to Additional Charges

Edward Williams pleaded not guilty today to charges of felony grand theft and tampering with records before Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove. He has been accused of illegally receiving more than $64,000 in Social Security payments.

The 64-year old Copley Township man is the father of  -- the Akron single mother who served nine days in jail for illegally enrolling her daughters in .  

Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Jonathan Baumoel told Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove that Williams lied on his United States Social Security application and annual updates regarding his household income and residential status. "as a result of that he received benefits that he was not entitled to."

Williams appeared with his court-appointed attorney Job Perry. The attorney asked for extra time to go over about 1,000 pages of documents related to the new charges.

Cosgrove postponed the trial to May 31 at 9 a.m. to give Perry the time to study the new documents.  She said she would not decide on the defense attorney's request for a change of venue until she was sure that an impartial jury could not be chosen in Summit County.

Williams sat and spoke quietly with supporters in the back of the room before the arraingment. A woman who declined to be identified said her church had been praying for Williams. "We just felt bad for him," she said, "at 64, be going through all this."

 If convicted on the charges, Williams could face a fine of $100,000 and up to five years in jail.

In addition to the new charges, Williams faces one count of grand theft and one count of tampering with records. Prosecutors allege Williams defrauded the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services of $36,023.87 in payments and benefits.

Williams' did not speak in court today and left the courtroom without comment. 

Outside the courtroom, Perry said he was confident Williams would be found not guilty. 

Williams' daughter, Kelley Williams-Bolar was sentenced in January to 10 days in jail and two years probation and community service on a felony charge of falsifying records so that her children could attend the Copley Middle School while the family lived in Akron. 

A grand theft charge against Williams related to the Copley-Fairlawn Schools enrollment case was dismissed in January after a jury couldn't decide whether Williams assisted his daughter. 

The new charges against Williams are not related to the Copley-Fairlawn school residency case.