LISBON — The Columbiana County Grand Jury this week ended the felony theft case against Leetonia’s incoming Superintendent Gerald “Tony” DelBoccio, opting to issue a no bill instead.

“They chose not to indict him for the charged offense,” county Prosecutor Vito Abruzzino said.

A no bill means the grand jury didn’t find probable cause to charge DelBoccio based on the information presented. The case that had been pending in county Municipal Court was dismissed also based on the grand jury’s decision. The bond was also released.

DelBoccio, 44, Poland, had been scheduled to face a preliminary hearing in county Municipal Court on Thursday for the fifth-degree felony theft charge, but that was canceled and the charge was dismissed.

The East Palestine High School principal hired as Leetonia’s new superintendent was accused last month of allegedly stealing $4,602 worth of electronic equipment from the East Palestine school district. The list of equipment, according to an East Palestine police affidavit, included four Apple televisions, four Apple pencils, two iPad Airs, MacBook Pro 13-inch, MacBook Pro 14-inch, three iPads, four iPad cases, iPad screen protectors and cables. The incident allegedly occurred June 5.

According to the affidavit filed in county Municipal Court, “the defendant advised he removed the items from the school, to take them home, and was going to turn them over to the I.T. department, which is located on the very same school campus they were taken from.”

East Palestine school officials had contacted East Palestine police on June 7 about the missing equipment from DelBoccio’s office closet. Security footage showed him entering the building with a backpack and empty black bag on June 5, going into his office, and then leaving, carrying a bag which was now full and two boxes that appeared to be MacBooks.

An East Palestine police report said police learned that DelBoccio had been passed over for the East Palestine superintendent job, but he was recently hired as the new superintendent for Leetonia schools. His last day at East Palestine was set to be July 31, with his first day at Leetonia set for Aug. 1.

Leetonia police made contact with DelBoccio at Leetonia schools and the electronic items were recovered from the rear of his vehicle. The report said additional items were recovered, including video game system controllers.

The nine grand jury members selected for this month met for two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, and reported their findings Wednesday afternoon. Grand jury proceedings are done in secret.

Abruzzino said he couldn’t say what happened during the proceedings, since they are held in secret, but said the facts and information about the case were presented and the grand jury issued a no bill.

When called about the outcome of the case, DelBoccio’s defense attorney Chris Amato sent a message saying that his only comment would be that “he was a great educator and he’ll make a great superintendent at Leetonia.”

According to the story about him being hired at Leetonia, DelBoccio had been serving as East Palestine High School principal since August 2021. He has 11 years of administrative experience, including August 2013 to July 2019 at Southern Local Jr. Sr. High School as assistant principal, principal and assistant superintendent in addition to monitoring testing, curriculum and federal funding (K-12). He also served as assistant principal at Groveport Madison High School in Groveport, Ohio, from August 2019 to July 2021.

A Youngstown State University graduate, DelBoccio holds a Master of Science in Educational Administration and licensures for Administration and Superintendency.