News
Release
     
For Release:   August 13, 2009
 
U.S. Department of Justice
 
United States Attorney
Northern District of Ohio
William J. Edwards
United States Attorney
 

Antoinette Thomas Bacon
Ann C. Rowland

Assistant U.S. Attorneys
216-622-3651
     
 

William J. Edwards, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, C. Frank Figliuzzi, Special Agent in Charge of the Cleveland Division of the FBI, and Jose A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, today announced that a two-count Information was filed charging former Ohio State Senator and City of Lakewood Mayor Anthony C. Sinagra in connection with the Cuyahoga County public corruption investigation.

The Information charges Sinagra, age 69 of Lakewood, Ohio, with participating in one bribery scheme and one fraud scheme. According to the Information, Sinagra bribed Parma City School Board member John Kevin Kelley in connection with a School District contract for Sinagra’s consulting company, A.C. Sinagra & Associates. This bribery scheme was also charged in Count 9 of the Information filed against Kelley on June 12, 2009. Count Two of the Information charges Sinagra with participating in a scheme to defraud a non-profit organization, which is the same fraud scheme charged in Count Two of the Kelley Information. Kelley entered guilty pleas to both charges.

The following individuals were charged previously in connection with the Cuyahoga County corruption investigation:

DEFENDANT
ROLE
DATE CHARGED
CASE STATUS
John Kevin Kelley

Former Geographic Information Systems Project Manager, Cuyahoga County Engineer’s Office

Former President, Parma City School District Board of Education,

Principal, J. Kevin Kelley Consulting, LLC

6/12/2009 Awaiting Sentencing
Guilty Plea 7/1/2009
Kevin F. Payne Retired Chief of Staff, Engineer’s Office, Cuyahoga County 6/12/2009 Awaiting Sentencing
Guilty Plea 7/1/2009
Daniel P. Gallagher

Retired Chief of Staff, Engineer’s Office, Cuyahoga County

Principal, The Eagle Group

6/12/2009 Awaiting Sentencing
Guilty Plea 7/2/2009
Brian Schuman Former co-executive director, Alternatives Agency 6/12/2009 Awaiting Sentencing
Guilty Plea 7/2/2009
Steven Wayne Pumper Chief Executive Officer, DAS Construction 7/8/2009 Awaiting Sentencing
Guilty Plea 7/17/2009
Dennis Dooley Principal Office Assistant, Cuyahoga County Auditor’s Office 7/22/2009 Awaiting Arraignment 9/1/2009
John J. Carroll Former Vice President of Facilities and Construction Services 8/6/09 Awaiting Arraignment
Nilesh R. Patel Former Vice President of East West Construction Company 8/6/09 Awaiting Arraignment

If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of
factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ann C. Rowland and Antoinette T. Bacon, following investigation by the Cleveland office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service. The investigation is ongoing.

An Information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government ’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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