Compiled from staff and wire reports

Scheme organizer sent up for 7 years

A Westwood man who defrauded area banks out of hundreds of thousands of dollars is going to prison for seven years.

Charles Loper's sentencing in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court is the final chapter in a check fraud that has been described as one the largest in Cincinnati history.

Cincinnati police detectives say Loper, 25, created phony checks on his computer, recruited people to cash them, then kept the money. Another part of his scam involved billing visits to pornographic Web sites to the county.

A county treasurer's office employee caught the expenditures, which led to Loper's arrest.

The seven-year sentence is for two counts of telecommunications fraud, two counts of forgery and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. He had faced up to 12 years in prison.

Car hits Metro bus; five slightly hurt

Five people were slightly injured when a car hit a Metro bus Thursday afternoon in Price Hill.

The car was traveling on Elberon Avenue about 1:40 p.m. when the driver apparently lost control of the vehicle coming down a hill and hit the oncoming bus, said Sallie Hilvers, Metro spokeswoman.

The accident happened near the intersection of Mount Hope Avenue.

Four bus passengers and the car's driver were taken to a hospital for minor injuries, Hilvers said. About 20 people were on the bus.

The driver of the car was cited, Hilvers said.

Man not guilty of police horse assault

Hamilton County Municipal Judge Timothy S. Black acquitted Brian Crum Wednesday of assaulting a police horse during an anti-war protest last October.

Crum, 37, of the West End, was one of about 2,000 anti-war and pro-Bush demonstrators outside the Cincinnati Museum Center where President Bush was speaking.

As police dispersed the crowd after the speech, Crum was arrested on charges of harming a police horse and obstructing official business.

Golf outing benefits DARE programs

BATAVIA - Clermont County officials will hold the county's annual golf outing to benefit several elementary school DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) programs next month.

The event is 12:30 p.m. May 13 at Shaker Run Golf Club in Lebanon.

The format will be a four-person best-ball scramble. Advance payment is $90 per golfer or $100 at the gate. The fee includes dinner from Montgomery Inn.

More information is available on the Clermont County Sheriff's Department Web site, www.clermontsheriff.org. Or call Shaker Run Golf Club at 721-0007.

Mental health board has three openings

BATAVIA - Volunteers are needed to serve on the Clermont County Mental Health and Recovery Board (MHRB).

The board is responsible for all public funds allocated for mental health and alcohol- or drug-related services.

There are three vacancies on a board of 18 members. Members serve a four-year term.

Board members determine policies and guidelines for services administered by MHRB and periodically review the delivery of services.

Volunteers must be residents of Clermont County and be able to attend monthly meetings.

Send a brief letter of interest to the Board of Clermont County Commissioners, 101 East Main St., Batavia, OH 45103.

Tractor accident results in death

MOSCOW, Ohio - A man mowing his lawn died Wednesday evening when the farm tractor he was using apparently went over an embankment, rolled and fell on top of him.

Carl Wildey, 65, was declared dead at the scene. Air care and life support were dispatched about 6 p.m.

Warehouse owner faces 63 new charges

Ali Aladimi's legal problems have multiplied.

Aladimi, 41, of Beavercreek, Ohio, who owns a West Chester Township warehouse, faces a new federal indictment.

The 63-count indictment released Thursday alleges that Aladimi bought and sold 5,093 kilograms of pseudoephedrine (a cold remedy that can be used as an ingredient in illegal drug labs), handled stolen property such as cigarettes and food, committed fraud involving infant formula and other items and engaged in money-laundering.

Aladimi's wife, Mary, 41, is named in 19 of the counts. She is accused of conspiring with her husband to launder money and to "structure" large amounts of cash, which means dividing up the deposits in an alleged attempt to conceal how much money was flowing, said Fred Alverson, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Columbus.

Authorities allege the crimes date to 1993.

The new indictment supersedes a Jan. 8 indictment against Aladimi and three other men in connection with an allegedly stolen trailer filled with baby food at Aladimi's warehouse.