The trial of former HPM owner Christopher Filos is set for Aug. 24 in Morrow County Common Pleas Court in Mount Gilead, Ohio.
Filos faces three charges at the trial before Judge Howard Hall: aggravated theft of state taxes withheld from HPM workers, failure to pay incomes taxes, and theft for withholding taxes owed to the village of Mount Gilead.
Filos appeared in court July 13 to face an additional charge, of illegal storage of hazardous waste, according to Tom Elkin, Morrow County assistant prosecutor. Elkin said that charge will not be part of the August trial.
The Environmental Protection Agency cleaned up the HPM property.
The HPM plant, which made injection molding machines, extrusion lines and die casting equipment, closed down in December 2009, sat unused for more than a year, and then the contents were auctioned off in early 2011. In May of this year, Middlefield Industrial Complex Inc. of Warren, Ohio, bought the aging building and the 80-acre property, and will redevelop it.
Filos' company, Taylor's Industrial Services of New Jersey, bought the assets of HPM in 2001.
Originally, Filos was scheduled to go on trial on July 13, but Judge Hall continued the case, at the request of Filos' lawyer.
Also, the judge ruled that Filos must appear in court for any future proceedings, Elkins said. Until now, he did not have to attend pre-trial conferences.
There will be a pre-trial conference in the court July 27.