Longtime Akron-based U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Marilyn Shea-Stonum will retire from the bench by the end of April.
Shea-Stonum announced the decision during a regular open-court conference Tuesday morning involving the ongoing Fair Finance Co. bankruptcy and $200 million financial scandal.
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Cincinnati, has started a search for her successor, Shea-Stonum said. Her court, in the Seiberling federal building in downtown Akron, oversees cases in Summit, Medina and Portage counties.
“Right now I am a year past when I could have retired,” Shea-Stonum said. “This [Fair Finance] case has contributed to my postponing that retirement date. No one is irreplaceable, least of all me.”
Shea-Stonum has been hearing the Fair Finance case since the well-established Akron business, founded in 1934, was forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy in February 2010 following FBI raids in late November 2009. The two Indianapolis-based co-owners and a former top executive of the company are serving time in federal prison after being found guilty of defrauding about 5,300 Ohio residents out of more than $200 million they had invested in Fair Finance.
“I would like to use my remaining time on the bench to move this case along,” Shea-Stonum said.
By the time her successor is ready to take over, “I want to have as much accomplished as possible,” she said.
The longtime Fair Finance case is “not a nice housewarming present for a new judge,” she said.
Shea-Stonum said she might be able to retire sooner than the end of next April if the circuit court makes good progress in choosing her successor for the Northern District of Ohio position.
Besides Fair Finance, Shea-Stonum has overseen numerous high-profile bankruptcy cases, including Republic Engineered Products, Akron Thermal, Evergreen Homes LLC and affiliated businesses, and others.
Shea-Stonum was named to her position in 1994, succeeding Judge Harold White. At the time of her appointment, she was a partner with law firm Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue and specialized in bankruptcy cases.
She has a history degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a law degree from Case Western Reserve University.
Case Western Reserve’s law school last year awarded Shea-Stonum its highest honor for graduates.
Fair Finance Trustee Brian Bash, a Cleveland-based lawyer, reported that the estate held nearly $6 million in recovered funds as of May 16. Bash’s monthly report said that the estate brought in $141,168 since April. To date, no funds have been dispersed to creditors.
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.
