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OHIO PINGS...

U.S. charges indicate Jimmy Dimora, others took cash, favors for help in getting county work (update July 08, 2009)

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/07/steve_pumper_of_das_constructi.html

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Soon after FBI agents caught contractor Steven Pumper bribing a Cleveland building inspector in May 2007, they asked him to help catch other crooks in the city.

Instead, Pumper stunned the agents by volunteering that he knew who they really wanted: Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora and Auditor Frank Russo, federal prosecutors say.

On Wednesday, Pumper became the latest person to be charged in a sprawling, yearlong investigation into contractors showering Cuyahoga County politicians with cash and favors in return for lucrative contracts. The case has ensnared some of the county’s most powerful politicians, and the most recent charges implicate a county judge whose chambers were searched last year.

Pumper is cooperating with investigators, his lawyer said. He is accused of paying $33,000 in cash and doing more than $58,000 in free work at Dimora’s home in exchange for the commissioner’s help in getting county business, according to the charges filed in U.S. District Court.

Dimora and Russo have not been charged with a crime, nor have they been identified by name in any charges or plea agreements. But descriptions of two public officials match Dimora and Russo. They have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Wednesday’s charges also identify a “Public Official 4” as a county judge. The description and court records show that person is Judge Bridget McCafferty. Her lawyer acknowledged she is the person described in the charges but said she has done nothing improper.

On May 23. 2008, Pumper was questioned by the FBI after they said he bribed a building inspector. Later that day, Pumper and an unnamed friend agreed to let Dimora know that Pumper was under investigation, according to the charges.

Within days of the FBI interview, Pumper worked with Dimora to cover the fact that Pumper’s company did more than $58,000 in free work to Dimora’s home as a bribe in exchange for Dimora’s help in getting county business, according to the charges.

Pumper created a phony invoice and had it sent to Dimora, the charges say. Dimora also began paying for the work, which included a patio roof, a bath house and a barbecue shelter.

“You know, I don’t want to have nothing hanging out there that could come back to hurt him or me, you know what I mean,” Dimora told a friend of Pumper’s in a call recorded by the FBI. “I just want to cover all the bases so [Pumper] don’t have a problem, and I don’t have a problem.”

The allegations, spelled out in nine criminal charges, say Pumper also paid Dimora $33,000 in cash and gave him Cavs and Indians tickets so the commissioner would help his companies, including D-A-S Construction, land contracts.

The money also went for Dimora’s help in trying to influence Pumper’s divorce case and a lawsuit before Judge McCafferty involving work D-A-S did at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

The investigation went public last July when 175 federal agents raided the homes and offices of Dimora, Russo and others. It appears to focus on Dimora and Russo and whether they steered contracts to contractors in exchange for personal favors.

At the time of the raids, Dimora’s lawyer said D-A-S did work at Dimora’s home but got no favors in return for it.

Pumper, 44, of Brecksville, was charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, obstruction, fraud and lying to investigators. He is the fifth person charged in the investigation.

The others are former county employees, J. Kevin Kelley, Dan Gallagher and Kevin Payne, as well as Brian Schuman, who ran a halfway house that did business with the county. They already have pleaded guilty to bribery-related charges.

Pumper asked his family to forgive him.

“I cannot change the things that I’ve done or undo the mistakes I’ve made, but I’m willing to accept personal accountability for those actions to accept the consequences,” Pumper said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Pumper paid Kelley, the former Parma school board president, $12,000 so D-A-S could gain a $96,000 subcontract with the district, according to the charges filed Wednesday.

Pumper’s company also did free work at the home of Santina “Sandy” Klimkowski, a Maple Heights school board member, and the homes of her relatives in exchange for Klimkowski pushing $450,000 in work on the district’s schools to D-A-S, according to the charges.

Klimkowski was not identified in the charges, but public records, including building permits on her home, indicate D-A-S did work there. She has not been charged and could not be reached for comment.

Pumper, the former chief executive of D-A-S, resigned from the company in April.

Attorneys for Dimora and Russo declined to comment. Several attempts to reach Dimora were unsuccessful.

The commissioner has said he did nothing wrong and is the victim of a Republican-led conspiracy with the U.S. Justice Department that was put in motion to tar the local Democratic Party and undermine Barack Obama’s chances in Ohio during the 2008 election.

The charges, however, offer a sharp contrast to Dimora’s statements. In a secretly recorded call, FBI agents picked up Dimora joking and bragging with Pumper.

“Oh, what the [expletive]. I’m doing nothing. I’m trying to make calls, [and] help my friends make more money than they already got,” Dimora told Pumper on March 31, 2008.

Two months later, Pumper was in trouble.

In late May, agents caught Pumper bribing Cleveland building inspector Bobby Cuevas with $6,000 in cash and gifts for favors on projects Pumper’s company handled. Cuevas has been charged with extortion for taking unrelated bribes at a nightclub.

This week, U.S. District Judge Kate O’Malley approved placing Cuevas in a little-used pretrial diversion program, meaning that the charges could be dismissed if he fulfills the plan’s goals that are set out by prosecutors and court officials. The plan is sealed.

City records show Cleveland issued Pumper’s company six building permits in 2008. Only one was in May, to 668 Euclid Ave., where K&D Development was working to renovate a former department store and Cuevas served as the inspector. The permit was issued May 19, three days after FBI agents interviewed Pumper about bribing Cuevas.

Pumper quickly tried to claim that at least one payment to Cuevas was a loan. Prosecutors said that’s not the case, and they charged him with obstruction of justice. During the interview with Pumper on May 23, 2008, the executive brought up Russo and Dimora to the FBI agents, who never mentioned the county or any county officials, the charges said.

The next day, Pumper took the hard drive from his computers threw them in a Dumpster and in Lake Erie, according to the charges.

On the day Pumper talked to the FBI, Dimora sent D-A-S a check for $600 for part of the work.

The taped calls also reveal Pumper’s attempt to influence public officials. In his lawsuit before Judge McCafferty, Pumper called the judge directly to expedite the case. D-A-S was a defendant sued over work at Browns Stadium. The case was resolved after McCafferty held a settlement conference, according to court records.

“I know it’s more than you wanted to pay but I hope you can live with it,” McCafferty responded, according to the charges.

“Listen, hey, you did a great job for me. So, [I] appreciate it,” Pumper said.

McCafferty said she would see Pumper soon. Pumper agreed:

“Next fund-raiser.”