Christopher Filos, former owner of HPM in Mt. Gilead, appeared in the Morrow County Common Pleas Courtroom of Judge Howard Hall on Monday afternoon for a combined pre-trial conference on two separate felony cases.
Filos had originally been indicted by the Morrow County Grand Jury in January of 2012 on three counts including aggravated theft, (F3); failure to remit state income tax withheld, (F5); and theft, a felony of the fourth degree.
He was arraigned on July 17, 2015 on one count of illegal storage of hazardous waste under ORC section 3734.02, which is an unclassified felony. The property required environmental clean-up by the Ohio EPA.
Filos appeared in court Monday, July 27, with Columbus Attorneys Jerry Peer and Greg Peterson.
Filos’ attorney Jerry Peer had a potential conflict in the case. Peer represented the first mortgage holder in a foreclosure matter against Filos in 2008 and in 2014. Filos waived that conflict.
Trial date for the original case is scheduled to start August 24, 2015 at 9:00 am. A pre-trial conference for the new case is scheduled for August 21, at 10:00 am.
Peer will be representing Filos on both cases. Assistant Attorney General Ken Egbert Jr. represented the State of Ohio for the new case at Monday’s hearing.
Filos has been ordered to appear in court at all future court proceedings.
Reach Donna Carver at 419-946-3010, ext. 1804 or on Twitter @ MorrCoSentinel.
