Former local police chief given community service

SANDUSKY — A former Perkins police chief must serve one year of community service for theft offenses. Timothy McClung, 59, recently entered a guilty plea to one felony theft charge. McClung, who was Perkins police chief between 1995 and 2008, was originally charged with theft and misuse of a credit card. According to the indictment, McClung is accused of misusing a credit card belonging to an Illinois-based roofing company. The indictment states McClung "did with purpose deprive" the business of more than $1,000. It's not the first time the former chief had a run-in with the law. During his tenure in office, he was indicted in 2000 and 2001 on charges including theft and theft in office. Both cases went to trial. In each case, the jury acquitted McClung on several of his charges and deadlocked on the rest, resulting in a hung jury. Then, in 2009, McClung was indicted by a federal grand jury on counts of mail fraud and theft from federally-funded programs. Prosecutors accused him of using township tax dollars to buy firearms, which he resold to raise money for department-sponsored shooting tournaments and seminars. McClung pleaded guilty to the charges in 2010, and in 2011 a federal judge sentenced him to one year in prison followed by three years of supervised release. In 2014, McClung's attorney filed a motion to get the former chief off of supervised release early — he argued McClung needed to travel out of the area for work, which would conflict with his probation terms — and the judge agreed to terminate his supervised release. McClung's community sanction will span through June 23, 2022.