Ex-Ohio court mediator arrested; allegedly sent feces to GOP

By SAMANTHA HENDRICKSON
Associated Press/Report for America

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man 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, a 77-year-old from Mogadore, Ohio 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 in early July 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.