By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jacob@thevillagereporter.com
A former Delta police chief has been sentenced in Lucas County Common Pleas Court after pleading to theft connected to fraudulent insurance benefits tied to a double marriage.
Robert A. Austin, 55, of Toledo, was sentenced to five years of community control after pleading guilty to one count of theft, a fifth-degree felony.
The charge was amended from grand theft, a fourth-degree felony, as part of a plea agreement that resulted in two other felony counts being dismissed.
As part of the sentence, Austin was ordered to serve 180 days at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio without violations. Court records show he was booked into the facility on Monday.
He was also ordered to pay $69,698.48 in restitution to Sylvania Township, comply with local and national laws, remain in the state, refrain from possessing firearms or ammunition, seek and maintain employment, submit to random drug testing, abstain from alcohol and illicit substances, and complete a mental health assessment with any recommended treatment.
The case stemmed from an investigation conducted by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation following reports that Austin had been legally married to two women at the same time.
Investigators determined that Austin improperly added his second wife to Sylvania Township’s health insurance plan while still legally married to his first spouse.
According to prosecutors, Austin married his first wife in Kentucky in 2004 and later married a second woman in Las Vegas in November of 2014. He did not finalize a divorce from his first wife until May of 2015.
Auditors later determined that Sylvania Township paid $134,862.16 in employee plus spouse health insurance coverage between January 1, 2016, and May 2, 2023. The recoverable portion of that amount was calculated at $69,698.48.
In October of 2024, Ohio Auditor Keith Faber issued a formal finding for recovery against Austin in that amount. Court documents estimate the total improper benefit cost at approximately $75,000.
At the time the improper benefits were uncovered, Austin was serving as police chief in Delta, having been hired in August of 2023 shortly after resigning from the Sylvania Township Police Department, where he previously served as a lieutenant.
Once documentation of the double marriage was presented to village officials, Austin resigned from his position in Delta.
Additional reporting later revealed that an internal Sylvania Township investigation had recommended Austin’s termination for multiple departmental violations.
That recommendation was included in a separation agreement that barred both parties from discussing the investigation, and the information was not disclosed prior to his hiring in Delta.