The Cuyahoga Rough Writers Blog

Ameritrust Developer K&D Charged With Bribery

Federal prosecutors have charged Henry J. Picozzi, a superintendent and project manager for K&D Group Inc., with bribing two Cleveland building inspectors in connection with the Stonebridge development on the West Bank of the Flats.

The inspectors are not named. One did electrical inspections. The other examined structural work.

The investigation started separately from the FBI's work on pontential corruption in Cuyahoga County government.  But the investigation into building inspectors became a tentacle of the county probe when one of the inspectors helped agents investigate Steve Pumper, the chief executive officer of D-A-S Construction. The company had done work at County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora's home in Independence.

The charge, which was filed in U.S. District Court Monday, states that the Stonebridge project was at various times behind schedule and over budget. Picozzi bribed the inspectors to expedite the approval process, to obtain "approval to reduce construction time and costs, and to expedite approval of occupancy permits for some floors at Stonebridge so that the project could begin to receive income."

The bribes took the form of cash payments of $3000, $2000, and $1,000, as well as entertainment and dinner at a strip club.

***

See Full Plain Dealer Article

Cuyahoga FBI Raids: Bedford Next Stop For The Feds

A subpoena issued Feb. 18 -- the same day federal agents raided Nature Stone's headquarters and warehouse -- ordered Judge Peter Junkin to turn over hundreds of pages of court records, e-mails and other documents detailing his relationship with Masetta since Jan. 1, 2005.

The subpoena, a copy of which The Plain Dealer obtained Wednesday, shows for the first time that the ongoing federal public corruption probe of Cuyahoga County government has delved into Bedford courts, a suburban stronghold of the county Democratic party.

The investigation became public last July, when 175 agents raided the homes and offices of county Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, Auditor Frank Russo, county employee J. Kevin Kelley and several contractors who did work at the homes of Dimora and Russo.

On Wednesday, Masetta said through a spokesman that he has been friends with Junkin for 20 years. Before becoming a judge, Junkin represented Masetta as a lawyer.

"There's never been anything inappropriate about our relationship and I have never asked for any special favors," Masetta said.

Junkin declined to comment.

Junkin's lawyer, Randy Klammer, said that the judge has reviewed the matter.

Of more than 30 Nature Stone cases, only one was assigned to Junkin, and it was dismissed by agreement of the parties.

"There's no truer public servant than Judge Junkin," Klammer said.

Bedford Clerk of Court Tom Day called a meeting Feb. 27 to warn all court employees that The Plain Dealer would be running an article about Junkin and the subpoena. Junkin did not attend.

"I told them they were adults," Day said Wednesday. " 'You work here, you're adults. It doesn't involve you, it doesn't involve the courts.' "

But others in the Bedford court are touched by the investigation or the possible fallout. Among them:

• Day himself. Political insiders consider Day a leading contender to replace Dimora as chief of the party if the probe leads to indictments.

• Masetta's daughter-in-law, Audra, is a part-time bailiff for the court.

• Gina Meuti Coppers, who is in charge of archiving and destroying court records, received a subpoena the same day that Junkin was served. The newspaper could not obtain a copy of that subpoena.

Day, who has seen the document, said Coppers' subpoena has nothing to do with court business and is not a court record.

Coppers -- the daughter of former longtime Bedford Heights Police Chief Dominic Meuti -- could not be reached Wednesday. Before working for the courts, she served as special assistant coordinator for senior citizens for Bedford Heights when Dimora was mayor, according to the resume she gave to the courts.

In recent days, Coppers spent her days making copies of court records for Junkin to give to a grand jury on March 18 -- the same day she has been called to testify.

Among the documents Junkin will turn over are 50 civil cases involving attempts by Nature Stone to collect from customers and four traffic and criminal cases involving members of Masetta's family. Junkin handled some of the cases, but magistrates or the other Bedford judge -- Brian Melling, Junkin's former law partner -- handled others.

Court records not sought by investigators show that Masetta's son, Michael, has been in front of Junkin at least six times for traffic and minor criminal cases. Each time, the younger Masetta appears to have received a break. Some of the cases were amended to lesser charges; others were dismissed. Fines were often waived or reduced.

In addition to court records, the subpoena demands Junkin turn over any correspondence he had with Masetta about work done at Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery Association, a nonprofit group that runs a 36-acre cemetery in Bedford. Junkin served on the cemetery board for 30 years. He resigned in December 2006, and Masetta became chairman of the cemetery, serving until August 2008.

Under Masetta's leadership, the cemetery's nest egg swelled from $17.7 million to $29.9 million. More than $10 million in new investment income, as well as savings, endowments and other funds boosted the fund, according to tax records.

Junkin's wife, Jill, has served as chief executive officer of the cemetery since 2006. She earns $125,000 a year, according to the group's most recent tax filings in 2007. And William Junkin -- Peter Junkin's son and Jill's stepson -- also serves on the cemetery board, earning about $3,000 a year.

***

See Full Plain Dealer Article

Cuyahoga Commissioner's Blunder The Budget, Again

(Plain Dealer) Cuyahoga County commissioners were surprised Thursday by a six-figure legal bill for medical mart negotiations that they thought was already covered.

The $100,000 charge is part of an estimated $175,000 in legal fees that commissioners will pay in trying to land the combined medical mart/convention center.

Commissioners thought that last year they had set aside $161,000 in leftover money from a defunct convention center organization to pay Cleveland attorney Fred Nance to deliver the medical mart project downtown. But the money has been spent, and none of it went to Nance...

Commissioners wondered aloud why the money had not been paid. Then, they wondered where the money went.

"Our understanding was this was being paid by Positively Cleveland," said Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones.

County Administrator James McCafferty answered that Positively Cleveland, the region's tourism bureau, thought it could use the money on a wide range of medical mart expenses.

Contacted after the meeting, agency President Dennis Roche said it had been made clear to the county that the $161,000 would be spent determining the best place to locate the medical mart.

A handful of companies, including Squire Sanders, were hired to complete what would be a $350,000 study to place the complex.

The study recommended building at Tower City, but Merchandise Mart disregarded the report. The company is doing its own site and cost study and in turn is delaying completing a development agreement with commissioners to launch the project that many hope will be an economic boon to the area.

Commissioners want a site picked and an agreement in hand by Jan. 15.

Jones said commissioners will pay Squire Sanders using sales tax money being collected to pay for the medical mart, then recoup the legal costs by siphoning some of the monthly bed-tax disbursements that make up part of Positively Cleveland's funding.

***

See Full Plain Dealer Article

FBI Probe: More Details On Council Pres. Sweeney

(Plain Dealer) Sweeney was a rising council star in 2002 when he made plans for a two-story addition to his family's Cape Cod-style home on West 133rd Street. He served as the council's majority leader, one step below then-Council President Frank Jackson, who is now the mayor.

A friend recommended that Sweeney hire Solomon & Associates to manage the addition, Sweeney said. The company, according to marketing materials from around 2001, specialized in retail and other large-scale commercial projects, such as renovations to a downtown hotel.

Solomon obtained a building permit for Sweeney's house in August 2002.[mst: 2001 or 2002? It's 2002, Henry confirmed: ]that year. Doan Pyramid pulled a permit to handle the electrical work the following month.

In December 2002, Solomon applied to become a lead contractor for the city's sound-insulation program for homes near Hopkins, records show.

Three months later, a panel of city administrators accepted Solomon's $831,000 bid for the job. In August 2003, Solomon received a similar contract, this one for an additional $500,000.

The company previously had been a subcontractor for the city's sound-insulation work at a West Side Catholic school, a job worth $472,000.

"We were pleased with the work they did for us," said Keith Tolliver of Gene's Refrigeration, the Medina company that served as lead contractor on that project.

The soundproofing program, which uses federal dollars, had been one that Sweeney had championed as a West Side neighbor to those frustrated with the noise of airplanes flying overhead.

Council members have no vote in awarding such contracts. But, when asked if he had put in a good word for Solomon & Associates, Sweeney replied: "I don't recall."

Other documents show that Roger Solomon of Solomon & Associates and Doan Pyramid President Michael Forlani each presented Sweeney with gifts worth more than $75 in 2002.

The forms, which elected officials must file with the Ohio Ethics Commission, do not specify the nature of the gifts. Sweeney said neither gift relates to his home addition, but he declined to disclose what he received from either businessman.

Solomon, who has since closed his company's downtown office, did not return messages left for him this week at his Valley View home. A lawyer for Forlani declined to comment.

Who hired whom

Sweeney said it was Solomon's choice to hire Doan to do the electrical work at the house.

John McCaffrey, an attorney representing Doan, confirmed that Solomon hired his client as a subcontractor, perhaps "on a suggestion from Mr. Sweeney. That was likely the case here."

Doan, McCaffrey added, billed Solomon $1,700 for its electrical work. He said Doan officials are confident that Solomon paid. He also believes that Solomon, as the project manager, ultimately charged Sweeney for those costs.

Sweeney is not the only elected officeholder to have employed Doan. The company once did electric, furnace and air-conditioning work at the home of Russo, the county auditor.

But Doan specializes in large-scale commercial and government projects, including at Hopkins airport. In 2001, the year before Doan was hired to help at Sweeney's, the company worked on an airport expansion project.

Doan returned to Hopkins in April of this year as a subcontractor on a $4.2 million taxiway relocation project led by Blaze Construction, another focus of the federal corruption probe.

Both of the subpoenas that seek information about Sweeney also seek information related to a project or prospective project at Hopkins sometime around April. One of those subpoenas was served on Blaze Building Corp., which shares a Berea address with Blaze Construction.

Like the soundproofing contract awarded to Solomon, city administrators, not council members, voted on the taxiway contract. Sweeney said he had no role in selecting the winners.

***

See Full Plain Dealer Article

Council President Sweeney And Others Named In County Corruption Probe

Cleveland Council President Martin J. Sweeney Named In Investgation

A tentacle of the federal corruption probe gripping Cuyahoga County reaches into the highest levels of Cleveland City Hall, the office of the council president.

The Plain Dealer last week obtained documents showing that agents are investigating the relationship between Council President Martin J. Sweeney -- one of the two most powerful men in Cleveland government -- and two construction companies that share a building in Berea.

Investigators also are asking questions about whether some public officials have financial ties to contractors, the same contractors they awarded hundreds of millions of tax dollars to for work at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and the county's 800 miles of roads. The airport is in Sweeney's council ward and is operated by the city. He once was responsible for oversight of the airport as chairman of council's Aviation Committee.

The documents show for the first time that the corruption probe does not stop at the doors of Cuyahoga County government.

The investigation was revealed to the public July 28, when 175 federal investigators fanned out across the county to raid the offices and homes of government officials and contractors, seizing computers, hundreds of cartons of documents and other materials. Since then, agents have searched other offices -- of contractors and two judges -- serving a total of about 200 subpoenas.

But even the latest subpoenas obtained by the newspaper -- served on July 28 -- show that the focus of the probe remains on the two men who run Cuyahoga County and the county Democratic Party -- Commissioner Jimmy Dimora and Auditor Frank Russo.

***

See Full Plain Dealer Article

Plain Dealer List More Names Being Investiaged

Last week, The Plain Dealer obtained several more court documents that included new names and companies that have caught the attention of federal agents. Among them:

Marty Sulzmann is the yard-equipment clerk at the Cuyahoga County engineer's office. He began working for the county in 2001. A message left at his office was not returned.

Mike Dever, former head of construction for the county engineer's office, is the deputy to the sanitary engineer. He is not sure why he is named in a subpoena, though he said he once accepted a campaign contribution from Blaze Construction owner Ferris Kleem as a Lakewood councilman.

Ohio Lottery. Subpoenas served on Russo's house sought records of the Ohio Lottery. Michael Dolan, lottery director, said, "I've spoken to no one involved in the investigation."

Rudy Stralka is treasurer of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party and a member of the Ohio Lottery Commission. He was subpoenaed to produce documents from Dimora's and Russo's political committees. Investigators also subpoenaed financial records, job recommendations, information about hirings and other records.

Marous Brothers Construction is a developer. The Willoughby construction company and its president, Chip Marous, were listed in a federal subpoena and search warrant for Russo. But County Administrator James McCafferty said the county has no major projects involving Marous Brothers Construction. Cleveland has paid the company $5.9 million since 2001.

Lopat Development Co. is at 151 Lou Groza Blvd., in Berea. That is the same address listed for Blaze Construction and Phoenix Cement, which have received millions of dollars in public contracts. State records do not indicate who owns Lopat.

Johnson Controls Inc. is a publicly traded, Milwaukee-based company that specializes in energy efficiency in buildings.

The Parma School District has awarded the company $19.8 million in contracts since 2000. J. Kevin Kelley, a school board member and employee in the county engineer's office, is under federal investigation for ties to companies that do business with the district.

Johnson Controls, in many of its deals with Parma schools, selected as a subcontractor another company under federal investigation -- Doan Pyramid Electric.

The company also has done business with Cuyahoga County, which has paid the company at least $3.3 million since 2004.

Joe Gouker is the project manager for the Parma School District. He said he is not sure why he is named in the Blaze subpoena. He said Blaze has bid, unsuccessfully, on one Parma schools project.

Oracle Corp. is a software company that is tied to a computerized Cuyahoga County mapping system developed by Kelley. Based on Kelley's recommendation, the county hired Michael Baker Jr. Inc. to help build the system with Oracle software.

Federal investigators are checking into that $4 million project.

The county has spent more than $422,000 on Oracle's products since 2006. Cleveland has had contracts with Oracle since 2001 totaling more than $7.5 million. Parma schools have done $14,000 worth of business with the company since 2002.

Dick Corp., now known as dck Worldwide, is based in Pittsburgh and is one of the country's largest construction and construction-management firms. Federal agents raiding Russo's home sought documents about the company. Company lawyer Mike Ambroso said he had no knowledge of the subpoena. A database of county payments to vendors shows the company has received at least $438,775 since 2005.

Woolpert Inc. is a national design and engineering firm based in Dayton. The company provides services including engineering, information management services, construction administration and airport design services. Cuyahoga County has paid about $1.2 million to the company this year.

Green-Source Products LLC is affiliated with D-A-S Construction of Garfield Heights. Green-Source makes insulated wall panels and has a manufacturing plant in Collinwood. The company has been served a subpoena for documents and is cooperating, lawyers said. The business is part owned by John Pumper, father of Steve Pumper. Steve Pumper is CEO of D-A-S and authorities are investigating whether he did work for Dimora in exchange for public contracts.

***

See Full Plain Dealer Article

Sutherland v. Peter Lawson Jones; Sutherland Draws Stark Differences

An already hotly contested race for Cuyahoga County commissioner got even more heated Wednesday as Debbie Sutherland, who is white, accused black incumbent Peter Lawson Jones of playing the race card.

The jab came during a debate at the City Club of Cleveland in response to an audience member who asked how the mayor of suburban Bay Village would lead such a diverse county.

"It doesn't matter if you are black, white, rich, poor, East Side, West Side -- we have got to work together to move this county forward," replied Sutherland, a Republican, who then added: "My opponent would like to [make this] about race and class, and it's not."

Jones, a Democrat, scolded Sutherland for the remark in his rebuttal.

"How dare you?" he said. "I have done nothing in this race to play on race and class."

After the debate, Sutherland accused Jones of planting someone at debates to ask her questions about diversity. Jones' response: "Give me a break."

The tone was much the same during their hourlong showdown.

Jones, who has held the job since 2002, focused largely on his efforts to create and retain jobs in the county. But Sutherland repeatedly scrutinized her opponent's character and questioned his leadership in the wake of a federal corruption probe of county government.

"Patronage, cronyism, lack of leadership, mismanagement -- and let's not forget the chauffeur and strip club manager," Sutherland said, rattling off a list of complaints.

The chauffeur dig involves the county car and driver Jones has used for county-related meetings. The strip club manager is Rosemary Vinci, a county employee and political ally of Auditor Frank Russo and Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, both focuses of the corruption probe.

Sutherland asked Jones several times during the debate to explain what he has done and would do to address patronage charges and concerns about the ongoing FBI investigation.

Jones never answered her. Instead, he emphasized his record of supporting county funding to create jobs and promote other economic development...

Each candidate borrowed a label from the rival party's presidential nominee.

Sutherland cast herself, much like Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, as the "change" candidate. Jones, alluding to Republican Sen. John McCain, called himself a maverick.

"I said 'no' to raising the sales tax to pay for the medical mart," Jones said, citing the first of two examples of his lone opposition votes on the county's three-member commission. "Then, when we talked about tearing down the Ameritrust Tower, I said 'no' to that."

Sutherland, this time doting on Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin, won some hearty laughs after landing a quick rebuttal: "I may not know how to field-dress a moose," Sutherland said. "But I know a maverick when I see one -- and Peter's not it."

***

See Full Plain Dealer Article

More Details on FBI Raids, CMHA, Phillips & Mike Fratello

(Plain Dealer) Investigators want to know whether the head of Cuyahoga County's public-housing agency traded your tax dollars for private jet rides, golfing and property in Florida.

During Wednesday's raid of the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, agents sought any documents showing relationships between Chief Executive George A. Phillips and more than a dozen contractors and developers, including former Cavaliers coach Mike Fratello.

This new thread of the deepening public-corruption probe unspooled Friday in public records that CMHA officials initially refused to release.

Many of the contractors listed in a CMHA subpoena match those on a subpoena for MetroHealth Medical Center -- a publicly funded hospital served with a subpoena on the same day as the housing agency. In MetroHealth's case, investigators want to know whether the public hospital's former vice president -- John J. Carroll -- exchanged tax dollars for kickbacks on building projects.

No one has been indicted in the public-corruption probe, which launched publicly in July with raids of county offices and the homes of Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, Recorder Frank Russo and several contractors.

But the scope of the investigation threatens to upend county leadership and weaken the Democrats' longtime stranglehold on local government.

Phillips is clearly a focus of the CMHA aspect of the investigation, according to documents the agency released Friday. So are contractors who worked for the agency, an energy-conservation project and work done at Beachcrest Towers and Lakeview Terrace housing complexes.

The feds specifically sought documents since 2004 related to Phillips' golfing, eating at country clubs and attending the 2008 Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club.

Phillips has declined to comment, but a CMHA spokeswoman said he is not stepping down and has not been asked by the agency's board to leave.

"Nobody has been accused of doing anything wrong .¤.¤. nobody has been charged with a crime," said spokeswoman Laura Boustani.

CMHA is no stranger to trouble.

Claire Freeman, who directed the agency from 1990 until 1998, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for stealing tax dollars, committing mail fraud and lying about a loan.

Terri Hamilton Brown took over the agency after Freeman was fired and in 2000 hired Phillips from Chicago's housing authority. When Brown left three years later, she was applauded for turning CMHA around, and Phillips was promoted.

As CEO, Phillips oversees a $215 million budget and about 1,000 employees. The agency provides housing for more than 36,000 people in public apartments and subsidized rentals.

One of the more intriguing names to surface in the county probe is Fratello. What relationship Phillips has with the basketball coach-turned TV color-man for the New Jersey Nets is unclear.

Fratello, who coached the Cavs from 1993 to 1999, could not be reached for comment. Fratello, a New Jersey native, appears to divide his time among Atlanta, Fisher Island in Florida and Bratenahl.

He has been involved in at least one Cleveland development. In 2000, he joined a group of men renovating the historic Reliance Building at West 10th Street and St. Clair Avenue downtown.

They planned to open a 24-hour breakfast place for late-night partiers after bars closed. The bottom floor of the building eventually housed a satellite location for stalwart Murray Hill doughnut-maker Gilly's.

The project was led by Bill Neiheiser, CEO of Reliance Mechancial. Neiheiser's name is listed directly above Fratello's on federal documents searching for information from CMHA.

Federal agents this week searched Neiheiser's business and two of his vehicles. Federal agents also searched Neiheiser's home in 2003 during a gambling investigation that involved sports talk show host Bruce Drennan.

***

See Full Plain Dealer Article

Medical Mart - a true public-private partnership?

MMPI's investment in the medical mart: 2%

MMPI's ownership and control of the mart for the next 20 years: 100%

From WCPN 90.3 FM

"There wasn’t a lot of public at last night’s public meeting. A dozen people at most - two dozen if you count the ones with a personal stake in the project. Cuyahoga County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones was there along with Joe Roman of the Greater Cleveland Partnership to present the proposed plan for the medical mart and convention center to the audience.

"None of the information shared was new, but these sessions are mainly to allow the public to react to the proposal. A handful of local tradesmen and business owners cheered on the project but several people present faulted the commissioners for failing to publicize the event and for not making details of the plan available in some written form. Ed Hauser, an engineer and well-known activist, voiced his frustrations.

"HAUSER: When you make a big decision like this there needs to be a proper public involvement process. We’re getting a steering committee making decisions behind closed doors, so I can’t sit in on these meetings and raise my hand - I just have to be on the defensive commenting on a plan that’s already been decided.

"Hauser and several others in attendance said they only found out about the meeting by chance the previous day. The commissioners office admits to having posted outdated information meeting on its website until Wednesday morning. City Councilman Brian Cummings called the process woefully inadequate and chastised the the committee for not taking complaints more seriously. Cummings, however, did use the forum to complain about the financing which is mainly public money through a hike in the sales tax. According to his calculations merely 2 percent of the project is being financed by the Chicago company [MMPI] that is slated to operate the medical mart."

Gretchen Cuda, 90.3, Listen to the full report at WCPN.org

Chairman Frost Questions Lawson Jones' and Dimora's Blaze Co. Vote

(CLEVELAND) Peter Lawson Jones, President of the Board of Cuyahoga County Commissioners, yesterday allowed his political godfather, Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, to vote on a contract award of nearly $2 Million Dollars to Blaze Construction.  Dimora and Blaze Construction, whose owner Ferris Kleem has donated to Jones’ campaign fund, are at the center of an ongoing FBI and IRS investigation of alleged government corruption. Jones and Dimora, joined by fellow commissioner Tim Hagan, unanimously awarded a contract for $1.98 Million to Blaze today for the Rockside Roadbridge replacement contract.

“The people of this county look to Commission President Peter Lawson Jones to protect taxpayer money, and he has let them down. Jones not only voted to award nearly $2 Million to a campaign contributor of his who is under federal investigation, he failed to prevent Jimmy Dimora from exerting direct influence on the decision.” according to Republican Party of Cuyahoga County Chairman Rob Frost.

Dimora has been under the cloud of the federal investigation for over two months, but Jones still has not called for Dimora to resign.  Quite the opposite, Jones has defended Dimora, explaining that “Dimora told him that he (Dimora) did not believe he had done anything wrong.” 

Chairman Frost suggested a different explanation.  “The Republican Party called upon Peter Lawson Jones nearly two months ago to release his personal financial records and assure voters that he has no conflicts of interest of his own in this matter, yet to this date he has refused to do so.  Perhaps, with the IRS among those investigating Dimora, and Jones' own continuing problem of unpaid federal taxes, he would rather avoid the subject of the inquiry altogether.”  Jones had a federal tax lien placed on his property in 2001, and to this day still shows the IRS as a creditor on his Financial Disclosure Statement¹

“When Commission President Jones doesn’t even pay his own taxes, can we really expect him to keep Jimmy Dimora honest?” asked Frost.

   

¹ Source – Cuyahoga County lien record and Ohio Ethics Commission Financial Disclosure Statements of Peter Lawson Jones, 2001-2007, with the latest filed February 4, 2008.

***

FBI Raids More County Offices, Judges Offices Raided

(Plain Dealer) The FBI searched the offices of two Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judges Tuesday night as part of the county corruption probe.

FBI Special Agent Scott Wilson confirmed federal agents searched the chambers of Judges Steven Terry and Bridget McCafferty between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Wilson would not disclose what the agents were looking for.

McCafferty said no one searched her office last night and has been doing hearings all morning. McCafferty said she knew nothing of the search until a reporter told her.

The searches at the Justice Center are related to the county corruption probe, Wilson said. FBI and IRS agents raided the homes and offices of county officials Jimmy Dimora, Frank Russo and Kevin Kelley in July.

It remained unclear how the judges became a part of the probe.

Federal agents are believed to be investigating whether Dimora, Russo and Kelley traded county contracts for work at their home. Projects under the microscope include the proposed juvenile detention center near East 93rd Street and building the Veterans Administration complex near University Circle, according to federal search warrants.

They are also investigating whether Kelley tried to influence traffic cases in Berea Municipal Court, according to court documents.

***

See Full Plain Dealer Article