Congressional candidate and far-left kook Bill O’Neill is no stranger to this website. And after he left that comment on my site, I wanted to learn more about who this angry, self-proclaimed war hero truly is. I ran some extensive checks on him and was surprised that someone with his sort of background is running for the United State House of Representatives.

This is only the tip of the iceburg of what I’ve found, but a quick search of LexisNexis shows that Bill O’Neill, who was making $117,000 as an appellate judge, owed $23,747.13 in back taxes. Here is the article from The Plain Dealer:

Appellate court judge is tax deadbeat Geauga jurist owes more than $23,000 in property taxes
Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH) - December 18, 2003
Author: John Horton, Plain Dealer Reporter

Chardon — Appellate Court Judge William O’Neill owes more than $23,000 in back taxes for his South Russell home , making him one of Geauga County’s most delinquent taxpayers, according to county records.

The county will file papers within weeks to foreclose on the judge’s Waverly Lane property, Geauga Treasurer Chris Hitchcock said. O’Neill , who recently announced his candidacy for the Ohio Supreme Court, is four years behind on payments. The unpaid $23,747.13 bill includes property taxes, assessments, penal ties and interest.

O’Neill said he’s in the process of getting a home equity loan to erase the debt.

“I’m not trying to sidestep it,” said O’Neill , 56. “I’m an honest man; it’s just a stupid mistake on my part.”

Voters in 2002 elected O’Neill to a second six-year term on the state’s 11th District Court of Appeals, which is based in Warren. He is paid $117,000 a year to hear criminal and civil appeals from Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake, Portage and Trumbull counties.

The Democrat filed papers this week to run for a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court. He’s seeking to fill the unexpired term of former Justice Deborah Cook, who was appointed to a federal bench.

The judge said his tax problem started with a miscommunication with his mortgage holder, Fahey Banking Co. of Marion. O’Neill said his mortgage application requested that the bank withhold money from his paycheck to make the tax payment. Mortgage papers filed with Geauga’s Recorder’s Office, however, show Fahey left O’Neill responsible for paying the county.

O’Neill signed the recorded mortgage papers on June 11, 1999. Asked yesterday whether he read the legal document before signing, O’Neill replied: “Absolutely not.”

The judge also said he was unaware of the county’s plan to foreclose. A Nov. 21 letter that the Geauga Prosecutor’s Office sent to O’Neill ’s home warned that foreclosure proceedings would begin unless payment arrangements were made by last Friday. O’Neill said he didn’t remember reading the letter.

Hitchcock, the county treasurer, said the county delayed foreclosure for a year after being told the situation would be corrected. O’Neill paid $5,351.75 to the county treasury this year, which wasn’t enough to cover current taxes, much less address the debt.

“He’s been extended far more courtesy than I’m comfortable with,” Hitchcock said.

The judge is among the Top 20 delinquent taxpayers in the county, Hitchcock said. No other taxpayer in South Russell owes more than O’Neill , who also has the oldest unpaid bill

O’Neill paid $250,000 to buy his 2,800-square-foot home in 1999. The county values the property at $277,500.

And my searches through legal records show that this is not the first time Bill O’Neill has had trouble with taxes and other financial issues in regards to his home. On May 16, 1995, Judge Ronald W. Vettel issued a “Stipulation and Order of Court for Judgment Entry/Foreclosure Decree. The plaintiff was First Western Bank, and the decree declared that Judge O’Neill is “in default for failure to make regular monthly payments” on a mortgage for a property at 389 East Main Street, Geneva, Ohio, 44041. The decree also said there were “real property taxes, assessments, penalties and interest” due to the Ashtabula County Treasurer and that the State of Ohio Bureau of Employment Services had filed a cross claim against O’Neill asserting the right to payment of three 1991 judgment liens totaling $15,395.65

Then, on July 31, 1995, O’Neill’s foreclosed property was sold by the Ashtabula County Sheriff for $19,000 to First Western Bank. After that, on Sept. 11, 1995, Judge Vettel issued an order confirming the Sheriff’s sale of O’Neill’s lost property. The order stated that on the day of the sale the amount O’Neill owed First Western Bank had built up to $56,974.85. According to the order, from the $19,000, the Sheriff got $1,177.44 for costs and the rest was to be paid to First Western Bank. The order said O’Neill still owed the bank $37,944.85. But the Ashtabula County Treasurer and State of Ohio Bureau of Employment Services received nothing.

So how does a judge making $117,000/year have such a difficult time handling his money? And if he doesn’t have enough intelligence to pay his bills on time or atleast hire an accountant to handle his finances, then why should the residents of Ohio’s 14th district trust Billy O’Neill to properly represent them in Congress? And for a man who wants to raise taxes across all income brackets, how does he have any credibility when he doesn’t seem to play by the rules and pay his own taxes.

Stay tuned…. there is MUCH more to discuss about O’Neill.