WHEELING, W.Va. — An Ohio County magistrate has been indicted on federal charges of wire fraud, bribery and tax fraud.
U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced Ohio County Magistrate Harry Radcliffe III, 60, is accused of soliciting and accepting bribes from W&S Bail Bonding, doing business as A Bail Bonding (ABC), of Wheeling.
Radcliffe also allegedly hid the payments from state and federal tax offices, directed defendants and families to ABC without offering other options and collected the bribes through a credit card and interstate travel.
He also allegedly failed to report $11,000 in income on his 2013 and 2014 federal tax returns and $4,500 on his 2015 federal tax returns.
The alleged crimes fell between Jan. 2012 and Apr. 2016, according to federal officials.
Radcliffe has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, federal program bribery, travel act bribery and filing a false income tax return with come with the potential for significant prison time and fines.
William Seelbach, 68, ABC owner, from North Fort Meyers, Florida, also was charged Tuesday with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and a count of failure to file an individual income tax return in 2012.
According to a statement from Powell’s office, Seelbach failed to report $144,030 in 2012 to the IRS.
Jolynn Gilchrist, 49, of Wheeling, who formerly worked for ABC, was accused of making a false tax return for allegedly filing inaccurate information for the 2015 tax year.