Feds search county officials' homes, offices

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by Tim Troglen

Reporter

Cuyahoga County -- As part of an "ongoing investigation" into alleged "public corruption," July 28 more than 100 federal agents from the FBI, IRS and U.S. Justice Department searched the homes and offices of several top county officials, as well as some local businesses throughout the county, according to FBI Special Agent Scott Wilson.

The offices and homes searched July 28 included those of County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, Auditor Frank Russo and J. Kevin Kelley, a county IT administrator and member of the Parma Board of Education, Wilson said, and a Bedford Heights firm was among the businesses searched.

"This stems from a long-term investigation into public corruption," Wilson said July 29, noting that 15 search warrants, which are sealed from the public, were filed in the U.S. District Court.

Wilson said he could not elaborate on what items were seized, nor when or if any indictments or charges would be handed down. He would not comment on what specific "corruption" officials were investigating.

Neither Dimora nor Russo nor Kelley could be reached for comment at press time.

Dimora's fellow County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones said during a July 29 press conference that he was "pained to see what we observed" the previous day, as federal agents took dozens of boxes of items from the county's main administration building in downtown Cleveland, where Russo's and commissioners' offices are located.

Jones said agents also served search warrants on the office of the county engineer, where Kelly is employed and which houses the county Data Center, which contains county IT information.

Jones also said search warrants were conducted at three business which have received county contracts.

According to Jones, those companies were Doan Pyramid Electric of Bedford Heights, which had a $941,000 contract to provide emergency generators for the county, as well as 15 other contracts for less than $25,000 apiece for materials and supplies of electrical components; Blaze Construction of Berea, which had four county contracts worth $18 million for various construction projects; and DAS Construction Co. of Garfield Heights, which had a $25,000 contract to review engineering drawings.

A call to Doan Pyramid Electric for comment was not returned.

Jones said if anyone employed by the county is found to have engaged in "criminal conduct, rest assured they will be prosecuted by the full force of the law."

"The public is absolutely entitled to know its government will be operating with complete integrity and without even a whiff of corruption," he said.

Jones noted that county employees continue to cooperate with authorities in the ongoing investigation.

Dimora was elected mayor of Bedford Heights in 1981, serving 17 years. He was elected as one of three county commissioners in 1998. The Bedford Heights community center was named in his honor in 2000.

According to the commissioner's Web site, "Dimora and his colleagues ... oversee more than 8,500 employees and a $1.4 billion budget."

E-mail: TTroglen@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3165