The Cuyahoga Rough Writers Blog

Dimora's Influence In North Royalton? County Corruption Probe Spreads

         The city has been subpoenaed by a U.S. District Court grand jury to relinquish several documents that involve Mayor Robert A. Stefanik and Joseph O'Malley, second assistant prosecutor.
The subpoena relates to the ongoing FBI investigation into alleged Cuyahoga County corruption.  The subpoena asked for several items, including any and all documents pertaining to O'Malley's personnel file, as well as his application, references, reference letters and documents or electronic mailing about his hiring.                                                                     
         Stefanik's mayoral campaign finance records, prior to the election to present, also were requested.
        The subpoena also asked for communication between any North Royalton city employee and Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, Jason Lucarelli, Samuel Lucarelli, Vincent Russo, doing business as Vincore, 1-888-Ohio Comp, Minutemen Staffing and Doan Pyramid. 
         Stefanik appointed O'Malley, with approval from City Council, in February 2008. It was rumored shortly after Stefanik became mayor that O'Malley was in line for the job to pay back a favor -- Dimora had allegedly loaned money to Stefanik's campaign, then reportedly told Stefanik to give O'Malley the job. Stefanik denied that on Monday. 
        "There is no truth to that," he said. "They are doing this (requesting subpoenas) in a lot of cities. This is just not North Royalton and not just picking on me." The collected documents must be delivered by 9 a.m. Wednesday to the Carl B. Stokes U.S. Courthouse in downtown Cleveland.
        The overall investigation extended from Dimora and Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo to such entities as 1-888-Ohio Comp, Minutemen Staffing, Vincent Russo and Doan Pyramid. The investigation crossed into 1-888-Ohio Comp, a workers' compensation firm that has ties to county employees as well as Russo's son, Vincent.
        The county has used the firm for its compensation claims since 2000. North Royalton, the school district and many other communities also recently began using that firm.
        Former Mayor Cathy J. Luks reportedly said she felt pressured to use the group as well. She then found herself challenged for her seat by a county employee, although she was re-elected.
James Lucarelli is president of 1-888-Ohio Comp and was a Dimora gift giver. His records were requested earlier.
        Samuel Lucarelli helps run Minute Men Human Resources Systems, which offers employer services, including temporary labor and payroll processing. The business includes 1-888-Ohio Comp. William Edwards with the U. S. Attorney Office said the agency could not comment on the grand jury matter.

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See Full Sun Star News 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.

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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.

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See Full Plain Dealer Article

Commission President Jones Has Yet To Tell Dimora: “It’s Time To Go”

Commission President Jones Has Yet To Tell Dimora: “It’s Time To Go”

Wants To Let Dimora Pick His Own Successor

CLEVELAND – Peter Lawson Jones, the President of the Board of Cuyahoga County Commissioners, has taken no action to encourage his friend and political benefactor Jimmy Dimora to step down as County Commissioner.  “This inaction on the part of Board President Jones is a failure of leadership and a disservice to the people of this county, “ according to Republican Party of Cuyahoga County Chairman Rob Frost.

Unlike in the recent scandal involving then-Attorney General Marc Dann, when Dann’s fellow state Democratic leaders pressured him heavily to resign even though he had not been charged with or convicted of any crime, Cuyahoga County Democratic elected officials have refused to take similar action.  In both the Dann and Dimora situations, the respective criminal investigations are ongoing. “The excuse being heard is that the cases are different; while Dann admitted wrongdoing, Dimora has not,” reported Frost, who continued “The more telling similarity between Dimora and Dann is that the Democrats seem more concerned with the political fallout in each situation than with what best serves the public.”

Recent media accounts indicate that several prominent Democrat leaders have asked Democrat Governor Ted Strickland to urge Dimora to step down as party chairman.  However, there is every indication that neither these same Democrat party leaders nor Commissioner Jones have made similar requests to try and pressure Dimora to give up his Commissioner’s seat.  “The reason is pure party politics,” Frost says, “By waiting out the calendar, Jones and his fellow Democrat insiders can ensure that their party gets to pick Dimora’s replacement, rather than letting the people vote on a candidate this November.”  If Dimora were to resign as Commissioner today, the election to fill the unexpired term would take place this November 4^th; however, if Dimora resigns at a later date, the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party gets to appoint a successor to serve until 2010.  Dimora has expressed no intention of resigning as party chairman.

“By refusing to tell Commissioner Dimora that it’s time to go, Board President Peter Lawson Jones is putting the interests of the Democratic Party ahead of the interests of the citizens of Cuyahoga County,” Frost continued, concluding “In effect, Jones’ delay could allow Jimmy Dimora as Democratic Party Chairman to handpick his own successor as Commissioner.”

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See More RPCC Press Releases

County Corruption: Dimora, Juvenile Justice Center & Independence Excavating

The Plain Dealer has uncovered more details of misspent funds in the Cuyahoga County Government.  It is clear; the FBI is looking into the Juvenile Justice Center and Jimmy Dimora’s, as well as County Democrat’s role in this expensive project.  Yet, Jimmy Dimora is still able to cast his vote on major public works projects, including the Juvenile Justice Center. 

See RPCC Press Release on the Juvenile Justice Center

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(Plain Dealer) Cuyahoga County Commissioners celebrated as they signed a $2.75 million deal to buy land from Sunrise Land Co., a subsidiary of Forest City Enterprises, Inc. That deal ended a more than 14-year battle to find a home for a much-needed county juvenile detention center. There were lengthy speeches, applause and even jokes, according to a tape of that Feb. 29, 2000, meeting.

Commissioner Jane Campbell introduced her newest colleague, Jimmy Dimora, quipping that after "14 years of sturm und drang ... you come here and in one year it got fixed. Want to, like, enlighten us?"

"It's being Italian," Dimora wisecracked. "You make people an offer they can't refuse."

Everyone laughed.

But the deal really wasn't funny. Just seven months earlier, the county could have saved taxpayers more than $2 million by snatching up the property itself up before the land was sold to Sunrise...

When the county first started looking at the land at East 93rd Street and Quincy Avenue, the property was in foreclosure. During that time most of the property was ordered to be sold at a public auction.

But the county didn't bid on the land.

Instead, on July 13, 1999, Sunrise bought most of the land at a County Auditor's sale for about $400,000, then sold it back to the county within months for a more than 500 percent return on its investment.

Today, county officials are at a loss to explain why they weren't better stewards of the taxpayers' money in purchasing the property that former Mayor Michael White once called "the worst environmental hazard in the city" -- two years before he recommended it as a site for the juvenile center.

Ultimately, the county had to pay at least another $10 million to study and remove contaminated soil and other debris on the largest portion of the property.

That same property was in the news again last month, when federal agents raided the offices and homes of county officials, specifically seeking documents about the juvenile justice complex.

Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, who is being investigated by federal agents, is the only one of the three commissioners who signed off on the sale to be still in office. Auditor Frank Russo, whose home and office were raided by FBI and IRS agents, was serving his first elected term when the land was sold by his office.

Neither Dimora nor Russo responded to interview requests.

And now the $160 million juvenile justice complex is rising on that land at the corner of Quincy Avenue and East 93rd Street. The buildings there will be visited by everyone from suburban kids with traffic tickets to parents with custody disputes. It will also house the county's most dangerous delinquents...

The deal the county commissioners signed at their Feb. 29, 2000 meeting, amid applause and laughter, worked out to $170,807 an acre, only 19 days after Sunrise had bought the final parcels of the land.

When White first proposed the site in a letter, Dimora had argued against it.

"That isn't worth the paper it's written on," he said.

But after the agreement was signed, Dimora commended White for recommending the site and being "very helpful in putting this project together..." 

Before the purchase was finalized, though, contingencies had to be met, including an environmental assessment of the land.

As the county began its assessment, officials worried that Forest City's Sam Miller was growing impatient.

On June 14, four months after the purchase agreement was signed, Miller called county administrator Tom Hayes. "He stated that he was being pressured by his partners and needed to close escrow on or before June 30th," according to a memo Hayes wrote the commissioners. "After that date they would be compelled to consider other offers for the property."

Miller did not respond this week to a request for an interview. He let Monchein speak for the company.

On Aug. 23, the commissioners sealed the deal, paying Sunrise $2,750,000 for 16.1 acres of land after determining the property could be cleaned up for an estimated $3.5 million.

Sara Harper, a retired judge, sat on one of the site-selection committees as a representative of the NAACP. She was furious when the Quincy site surfaced because it was not one that committee members had visited or considered.

She filed a complaint in October 2000 with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, alleging that county officials had violated the Civil Rights Act when they approved construction of a juvenile facility on a chemically contaminated site.

The EPA referred the complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice, which finally decided in 2004 not to take action.

Meanwhile, the county discovered that the Quincy site clean-up was going to be a lot more complicated and expensive than commissioners originally thought.

Independence Excavating, which initially bid $3.8 million for the clean-up, found its costs soaring. It requested at least an additional $5.5 million between November 2003 and March 2004. Independence has continued to receive additional contracts for work there.

A county memo noted that "widespread PCB contamination was encountered despite US EPA certification . . . that the PCBs were confined to one, deep spot."

Finally in May 2006, the county received notice from the state indicating that the cleanup passed Ohio EPA muster. The property met the standards for commercial and industrial land use as well as certain restricted residential land uses. But there were certain restrictions, including "Residential uses are restricted to occupancy [of] residents 9 years of age or older for a duration not to exceed 9 years."

Bill Edwards, acting U.S. Attorney in Cleveland, refused to comment on the scope of the public corruption investigation regarding the juvenile justice complex. But if federal agents are digging into the Quincy land deal, it would make Sara Harper smile.

"This is a deal that should never have happened," she said.

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See Full Plain Dealer Article

County Democrats in Disarray, Dimora To Step Down?

(Plain Dealer) Some prominent Ohio Democrats want Jimmy Dimora to resign as Cuyahoga County's party chairman, at least until a federal public corruption probe targeting him and County Auditor Frank Russo is concluded.

Gov. Ted Strickland said in an interview he has been asked by Democrats to urge Dimora, whose term ends in 2010, to step down.

Some party leaders, including elected officials, labor officials and ministers, are discussing how to persuade Dimora to leave as the party heads into the critical months before the November election.

They have no plans to force him from the volunteer position. The county party's lawyer, Kenneth Fisher, said he's not sure the party bylaws even allow that.

Dimora, who has said he has done nothing wrong, didn't respond to written questions about calls for his resignation and his future within the party.

Other party officials, sought out through the party's executive director, Colleen Corrigan Day, also did not respond to the same written questions.

Dimora, one of three county commissioners, has become a liability to the local party, though few Democrats want to say so publicly.

Always more glad-hand than hands-on, Dimora supports candidates by attending their fund-raisers, settling intraparty squabbles, rallying volunteers and acting as the face of the party.

But since FBI and IRS agents raided his home and his commissioner's office July 28, Democrats are reluctant to share the stage with him. They worry the negative attention will distract voters from the issues...

State Rep. Tim DeGeeter of Parma, a party insider who is up for re-election but has no opponent in November, left the question for Dimora.

"The chairman has always been about helping Democrats get elected, and he will be able to figure out his role based on the investigation," DeGeeter said.

DeGeeter said he has not heard any calls for Dimora's resignation.

Commissioner Tim Hagan said Dimora "obviously has been neutralized, to say the least, because he is confronting an investigation and that's where his focus is and that's totally understandable."

Hagan said he has had several conversations with Democrats about Dimora's future. But he said he understands Dimora's reluctance to leave because stepping down might appear as though he is admitting guilt.

"It will be wise for him to simply say that he won't be engaged in political activity for the remainder of the investigation," Hagan said.

Dimora was expected to run a special party meeting Wednesday night at which members named State Sen. Lance Mason to a ballot spot for Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.

Day, who disputes the notion that Dimora and Russo are the face of the party, said Dimora plans to attend the county party's 190th birthday party and fund-raiser on Aug. 20.

While Dimora could draw negative attention to county Democrats, the cloud that follows him and Russo is not likely to have an impact on the presidential campaign.

Dimora has never viewed his or his party's role as an organizer for anything but local candidates. Confronted by criticism of his party's lackluster efforts for statewide candidates in 2002, for instance, Dimora insisted his job is to not worry about Columbus.

In addition, presidential campaigns, in coordination with the state party, call the shots, looking to the local parties for office space and access to voter and volunteer lists...

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign did hesitate, at least momentarily, to come to Cuyahoga County following the raid.

It had scheduled a planning meeting with county elected officials at Cleveland's Laborers Hall in early August but worried Dimora's presence might get in the way. Local Democrats assured the campaign that Dimora would stay away - and he did.

Britt and the state party's executive director, Doug Kelly, assured members at the meeting that the county party was "bigger than one person."

Cuyahoga County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones, also on the November ballot, said Dimora has acknowledged he needs to keep a lower profile.

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See Full Plain Dealer Article

Cuyahoga FBI Raids: What Does It Mean Nationally

The FBI/IRS Raids on Cuyahoga County Demoratic Officals will have an impact on the Presidentail Race and could be a major factor in determing the election. 

(New York Times) - A federal investigation of Democratic Party leaders in Cuyahoga County could pose problems for Barack Obama's campaign in Ohio, party insiders and political analysts say.

If the party's local campaign operation suffers, some Democrats said, it could cost Mr. Obama votes in a Democratic area where he must win overwhelmingly to offset Republican strength elsewhere in the state.

"There's no question that this is not helpful," said Peter Lawson Jones, a Democrat who serves on the three-member Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners with Jimmy Dimora, the chairman of the county Democratic Party, who is at the center of a federal inquiry.

But representatives of Mr. Obama's campaign in Ohio dismiss the idea that the events in Cuyahoga County will have any effect on the November election. They argue that Mr. Obama has built an effective organization in Ohio that does not need the county party's help.

"The Obama campaign has such a strong network of its own grass-roots people," said Dale Miller, a Democrat and Ohio state senator from Cleveland who is campaigning for Mr. Obama. "Even if the county Democratic Party operation is not as effective because of the investigation, it's not going to affect us very much."

On July 28, F.B.I. and I.R.S. agents raided the homes and offices of Mr. Dimora and Frank Russo, a Democrat who is the county auditor, an elected position. The offices of several construction companies and a consulting business owned by Mr. Russo's son were also searched.

Federal investigators sought documents regarding public construction projects, including a county administration building and a new juvenile court and jail, according to a federal search warrant released by James McCafferty, the Cuyahoga County administrator.

Agents also sought information about home remodeling projects at Mr. Dimora's and Mr. Russo's houses, county government hiring practices and "Cuyahoga County employees working on political party business during normal business hours," the search warrant said.

Both Mr. Dimora and Mr. Russo have declared their innocence. No charges have been filed.

"I know in my heart that I've done nothing wrong to warrant this kind of an investigation," Mr. Dimora said at a county commissioners' meeting after the raid. "I am absolutely confident that when the dust clears my good name and reputation will also be cleared."

No matter the result of the investigation, some Democrats worry that it is hurting their party's efforts to mobilize for the presidential election.

"People are skittish," Mr. Jones, the county commissioner, said. "When there's a federal investigation under way, friends and acquaintances scatter."

Cuyahoga County is the most populous and Democratic-leaning county in Ohio. In one Congressional district in the county, John Kerry won 81 percent of the vote in 2004. But even that large margin of victory could not overcome strong Republican majorities elsewhere in Ohio. President Bush won the state that year by about 118,000 votes out of 5.6 million cast.

"Kerry won big in Cuyahoga County, but it wasn't enough," said David B. Cohen, a political science professor at the University of Akron. "Which means Obama needs to win even bigger."

That may prove difficult with top leaders of the local Democratic Party under investigation. Over three decades in public office, Mr. Dimora has built a broad political coalition, with many allies working as ward leaders, City Council members and mayors across the county.

In June, Mr. Russo told The Plain Dealer of Cleveland that he used the county auditor's office to hire his friends and family members, who also serve as the core of his political organization. Through a spokeswoman, Mr. Russo declined to comment for this article.

"Both Jimmy and Frank have their loyal networks with hundreds of people who are beholden to them, who are on the public payroll," said Subodh Chandra, a former law director for the City of Cleveland and a part-time fund-raiser for Democratic candidates, including Mr. Obama. "Given that they're both under investigation, one would imagine they'd be distracted from the campaign."

Meanwhile, Republicans see the investigation as an opportunity to narrow the Democratic Party's traditionally large majorities in the area.

"The backbone of their operation is being taken out because so many of their volunteers are public officials and public employees," said Jim Trakas, the former chairman of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party, who is running against Representative Dennis J. Kucinich, a Democrat. "That will make it very difficult for them to campaign."

Given Mr. Bush's slim margins of victory in Ohio in the 2000 and 2004 elections, and polls showing that last month John McCain had cut Mr. Obama's six-point lead in Ohio to a statistical dead heat, even a small drop in the Democratic voter turnout in Cuyahoga County could have an impact statewide.

"This investigation could hamper voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts in the fall campaign because typically local parties are instrumental to those efforts," said John C. Green, a political science professor at the University of Akron. "Cuyahoga County is a very important element in the Democratic effort nationwide."
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See Full New York Times Article

Cuyahoga FBI Raids: Years Of Investigation

The FBI does not swing and miss.  The current investigation into public corruption in Cuyahoga County government most likely took years before the raids two weeks ago.  If the FBI has been investigation for years, public corruption inside the local Democratic Party and county officials was a reality long before the FBI even started to ask questions. 

How long did our region suffer because of the self-interest of the current public officials?  Will the public send a message this November, in the form of real leadership?

View "Winds of Change" 

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(Plain Delaer) Federal agents knew what to look for and where to find it during raids last week on Russo, the county auditor, and Dimora, a county commissioner and Democratic Party chief, and several contractors.

The details of how the investigation began and what it was based on may not come out for months -- if not years -- as investigators have to plow through thousands of boxes of paperwork taken in the raids. No criminal charges have been filed.

But former prosecutors and federal agents who have worked public corruption cases in the past -- and defense attorneys scrambling to answer grand jury subpoenas for their clients' records -- said the documents give a glimpse of how the investigation may have unfolded to this point.

They said the minute details found in records -- the note in Russo's office, pictures of Dimora with county worker Rosemary Vinci, gifts, campaign literature and casino chips -- show the investigation probably started years ago and included informants close to the men, some of whom probably recorded conversations.

It is impossible to know such details about the men's offices without someone who routinely goes in there, according to the former agents and defense attorneys in the case.

Many have wondered whether Patrick O'Malley, the former county recorder who was convicted of obscenity charges, helped authorities. His attorney, Ian Friedman, said O'Malley did not help the government in the Dimora-Russo probe.

Officials also said it is clear that agents followed Russo, Dimora, county employee J. Kevin Kelley and other employees for long periods of time. Agents sought records of workers who were driving Dimora around when they should have been on the job.

Agents also looked for records of Russo's employees handling his personal business during working hours...

The camera and the wiretaps would have needed monthly approval from the U.S. attorney general's office, and would have required agents to listen around the clock to any call they believed involved corruption.

In order to get approval for such devices, federal prosecutors must convince a judge there is no other way for them to get evidence of wrongdoing. They must show that undercover agents or informants cannot get close enough to the suspects.

"It's certainly conceivable of using electronic surveillance, such as bugging phones or using cameras," said Geoffrey Mearns, dean of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University. "Those are extremely valuable. But they are not easy to get."

A review of federal public corruption cases across the country in the past few years indicates jurors want to see and hear public officials on tape.

Last month, a federal jury convicted John Ford, a maverick Tennessee state senator who received hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from contractors. Ford also was convicted last year in a separate investigation dubbed "Operation Tennessee Waltz" in which FBI agents set up a phony company that used bribes to gain state contracts.

The second conviction came shortly after jurors were allowed to review hidden FBI tapes of Ford bragging about how he took money in exchange for helping with a deal.

"Generally, jurors want to hear tapes," said Eli Richardson, the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted Ford. "It's compelling."

The FBI also used wiretaps in "Operation Wrinkled Robe," which led to the convictions of two New Orleans judges who offered lower bonds in exchange for meals and favors from bail bondsmen.

Those cases, along with the Dimora-Russo probe, come at a time when the FBI has made public corruption a top priority.

"It does not matter if it is millions of dollars, or merely hundreds," FBI Director Robert Mueller said in a speech during the spring. "There is no level of acceptable corruption. The violation of trust is the same."

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See Full Plain Dealer Article

Commissioners Should Release Personal Financial Records

- Republican Party of Cuyahoga County Press Release -

   

CLEVELAND – In order to begin to repair public confidence in our County government, Republican Party of Cuyahoga County Chairman Rob Frost is calling upon the two County Commissioners not currently under federal investigation to release their personal financial records.  “Peter Lawson Jones and Tim Hagan can reassure the people of this county and dispel the cloud of suspicion hanging over county government by taking the affirmative step of opening up their federal and state tax returns to public scrutiny,” Frost stated. 

   

“The voters and taxpayers deserve to know whether at least a majority of the County Commission are not alleged to be engaged in contract steering and self dealing,” Frost continued.

Federal authorities including the FBI and IRS are currently investigating allegations of contract irregularities and improper conflicts of interest surrounding Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, as well as Auditor Frank Russo and other county officials and contractors.  Dimora continues to serve on the County Commission and vote on contract awards, change orders and expense authorizations.  Dimora voted Thursday along with Jones and Hagan to spend an additional $239,000 on the Juvenile Court Facility, one of the projects the federal authorities are currently investigating.

 

Jones, President of the Board of County Commissioners responded Wednesday to Frost’s call earlier this week for an internal investigation of contracting procedures.  Jones was cited in media accounts as having stated Wednesday that the county has formed an internal task force in response to the allegations of contract steering.  Frost declared, “The reaction of Board President Jones responding to our demand for an investigation by creating an internal task force to review purchase orders is a small but necessary measure; he must go much further to restore the public’s confidence.”

Frost continued, “Commissioner Jones seems to think that the current problems can be minimized by pointing out, for example, that one of the main contractors being investigated, Blaze Construction, obtained most of its county work through competitive bidding.  What Commissioner Jones seems to fail to understand is that it is the integrity of the actual bidding and contracting process that is being called into question.”  Blaze Construction received over $17.5 Million in contracts from Cuyahoga County in the last five years, according to the County’s own records.

 

“It is fair for the people of this county to wonder, with one Commissioner under investigation, whether the other two Commissioners, Jones and Hagan, have received any income, gifts or political financial support from Blaze Construction or its principals, or any of the other contractors under this federal probe,” according to Frost, who continued, “It is only by being open with the voters that Jones and Hagan can begin to mend this breach of the public trust.”

 

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See More RPCC Press Release

Cuyahoga FBI Raids: Reaching Into More Suburbs

As the Cuyahoga County Corruption Probe continues to unfold, evidence is slowly emerging that public corruption is reaching into some of the county’s suburbs. 

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(Plain Dealer) Federal prosecutors want to know whether Parma Board of Education member J. Kevin Kelley and former board member Richard Ress tried to influence traffic cases in Berea Municipal Court.

Prosecutors have asked the court for any records of correspondence since Jan. 1 from the two men regarding traffic citations, according to a copy of a subpoena obtained Wednesday by The Plain Dealer.

The subpoena demands that a court representative appear Aug. 26 before a federal grand jury. In a telephone interview, court Clerk Ray Wohl said he will appear and said investigators questioned him about whether Kelley or Ress had any influence with the court.

Kelley is a target of a sweeping public-corruption investigation that broke July 28, when 175 federal agents raided county offices, the headquarters of several contractors and the homes of Kelley, Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora and County Auditor Frank Russo.

The investigation has not resulted in criminal charges against any officials. The subpoena served on the municipal court is the first indication that a federal grand jury is considering evidence against one of the targets...

Search warrant records show investigators want to know whether Dimora and Russo steered contracts in exchange for free improvements on their homes or used their influence in judicial proceedings.

A menu of records that federal agents sought from Dimora listed "documents relating to an effort to influence any judicial proceeding, including documents reflecting case numbers, parties to a lawsuit or criminal case, notes regarding the nature of any case, any document that reflects communication with court staff, such as a bailiff, judge or judicial clerk."

A subpoena served on a Parma School District employee last week shows that agents extended their probe into school contracts awarded between 2002 and 2005, when Kelley served as board president.

Ress was elected to the Parma board in 2001 as a member of a slate of candidates backed by Kelley. Ress took his seat in 2002. He is bailiff for Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court Judge Kristin Sweeney.

Kelley and his colleagues on the school board gained total control over contracts through a legal but unusual move of having the district's business director report directly to them instead of to the superintendent.

School records show Kelley helped award more than a half-million dollars in contracts to two of the companies linked to the corruption probe: Doan Pyramid Electric and D-A-S Construction.

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County Employees/Officials Living Large: Island Property

(Plain Dealer)Aug. 1, federal agents got their own look at the retreat, visiting the island to photograph Kelley's construction site on East Forest Glen Lane.

Kelley's home will overlook a blasted-out quarry that is lined with million-dollar homes complete with gazebos, turrets and private docks. Kelley's docks are in place.

FBI and IRS agents had paid a visit to Kelley on the mainland earlier in the week. They raided his $298,000 Parma home and his office in the county engineer's building July 28.

But now, this tiny island on scenic Sandusky Bay has become a focal point of the federal investigation into possible corruption by Cuyahoga County officials, with suspicions that they may have traded jobs and contracts for free improvements to their homes. A number of people related to the case turn up here.

Building his own home next door to Kelley is Joe Gouker, a Parma School District official who was served a subpoena last week by the FBI in connection with the probe. His wife, Patricia, is personnel administrator for the county engineer.

Also on the island is Bart Leneghan, deputy director of the county's central services, a key position.

Leneghan was named in the search warrants of the offices of County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora and Auditor Frank Russo. Patricia Gouker is Leneghan's sister.

Docked outside Kelley's new home last week was a boat owned by a top union official, who, an acquaintance said, did work on Dimora's property.

Finally, there is the county engineer himself, Robert Klaiber, who bought property on the island with Kelley in 2005.

A source familiar with the federal investigation said agents are looking closely at dealings involving some property on Johnson's Island, but the source would not elaborate. In all, at least five county employees own property on the island.

Kelley, who has six children, makes $134,000 a year at his county job, another $2,000 a year as a member of the Parma school board and an unknown amount of money from a consulting company.

While he was school board president, Kelley worked closely with Gouker, the district's project manager. Gouker said earlier he has been ordered not to talk about the subpoena given to him last week by the FBI.

School district records show that Kelley helped award more than a half-million dollars in contracts to two companies -- Doan Pyramid Electric and D-A-S Construction -- that have been linked to the county corruption investigation.

Dimora, Kelley and Russo are targets in the federal probe. The three spend lots of time together, both working for the Democratic Party, which is headed by Dimora, and socializing.

Kelley and Gouker did not return phone calls seeking comment for this story.

Kelley and Gouker purchased the adjacent lots on Forest Glen within four months of each other in 2007. Kelley paid $235,000; Gouker, $260,000. The men applied for building permits this spring and listed themselves as contractors.

Neighbors said construction crews worked on the two houses all summer, but workers were not seen at the site late last week...

Leneghan was listed in federal search warrants for the offices of both Dimora and Russo. Agents were looking for documents that would show Leneghan and a few other county employees traveling with Dimora on nonofficial business during working hours, for county employees performing personal business benefiting Russo or Dimora during working hours and county employees working on political party business during business hours.

Leneghan said he has not been interviewed by agents.

He said he built his house on the island 11 years ago and continues to make improvements with the help of relatives, some of whom live on the island. His house is appraised at $138,500, according to the Ottawa County auditor. He makes $81,307 a year.

The Goukers bought land on the island 10 years ago and built a house. They sold it to a relative for $180,000 after buying the lot near Kelley.

The boat docked behind Kelley's new house last week was the "Nauti Lady," a Sea Ray cruiser registered to Robert Rybak, with R&R Marine Sales in Independence.

Rybak also is head of Plumbers Local 55. A friend said the work Rybak did at Dimora's Independence home included connecting a gas line to a swimming pool, so that the pool can be heated.

Rybak's wife, Linda, is an administrative assistant in the county's human resources department, a unit controlled by the commissioners. Federal officials seized Linda Rybak's county computer during a July 28 raid of the county administration building.

A phone message left at the Rybak home in Independence was not returned.

County Engineer Klaiber also owns property on Johnson's Island. He said he agreed to split a lot on Confederate Drive with Kelley. Each paid $39,500 for the land in 2005.

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