Barto found guilty on one charge in Seneca Co.

Former Waterloo Justice Roger Barto’s second trial at the Seneca County Courthouse was nowhere near as long as his first last summer, but a verdict has been issued in the trial. Judge Dennis Bender presided over the proceedings, which lasted just one day — all taking place on Tuesday. The allegations against Barto indicated that while he was the acting village justice, he stole gasoline from a village cemetery in April of 2014.The charges brought against him this time around included petty larceny and official misconduct, of which his guilt was split. Barto was found guilty on the attempted petty larceny charge, while being found not guilty on the official misconduct charge.Barto was the caretaker of the cemetery where it was alleged that he stole gasoline from to fill his personal vehicle up in April of 2014.He was represented by local attorney Gary Muldoon. An individual testified to seeing Barto fill the gas tank of his personal vehicle and reported it to police afterward.Seneca County District Attorney Barry Porsche who prosecuted the case was vocal leading up to the day in court, pointing out that, “We obviously believe in our case. We believe our witnesses. It’s going to be up to the judge. He’s the fact finder in this bench trial.”Village of Waterloo Mayor Ted Young said that while they conducted their own investigation, the village found no gas missing.For the charges, it was believed that Barto could face up to one year in jail, but after after being sentenced to a lengthier term last summer — and only serving a week — many are skeptical about how much time Barto could serve. FingerLakes1.com will update this story as more information becomes available.