Jimmy Dimora federal racketeering trial: Frank Russo says he and Dimora asked ...
AKRON, Ohio -- Former Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo testified today that Jimmy Dimora helped set up an impromptu meeting between a judge and contractor Steven Pumper at a fundraiser in Cleveland.Russo, testifying in the former county commissioner's racketeering trial in U.S. District Court, told jurors about an event he and Dimora attended on Cleveland's West Side. Then-Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Bridget McCafferty was at the event, and Dimora told her she needed to help his friend, Russo recounted.
McCafferty nodded her head in agreement, Russo said, and then Pumper walked into the event. He said he and Dimora walked away as the former judge and Pumper talked.
A lawsuit involving Pumper's company, D-A-S Construction, was on her docket. The case involved work done at Browns Stadium. A discussion McCafferty had with Pumper after a settlement in the case was secretly recorded by the FBI.
A U.S. District Court jury in March 2011 convicted McCafferty, of Westlake, of 10 counts of lying to FBI agents , charges that stem from when they confronted her on Sept. 23, 2008, about allegations she had engaged in inappropriate talks with Russo, Dimora and Pumper. FBI agents had hoped she would cooperate against Russo and Dimora. She was sentenced to 14 months in prison.
Russo testified that he asked McCafferty for favors in cases at least twice a year. He would give her a case number and expect her to give “the benefit of the doubt.”
Russo has pleaded guilty to 21 corruption-related counts and was sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison. His reporting date has been delayed to allow him to testify against other defendants. He could receive a reduced sentence due to his cooperation with investigators.
The charges against Dimora are found in a 36-count, 148-page federal indictment , alleging that he used his county commissioner's office as the base to run a criminal enterprise. Dimora is on trial along with a co-defendant, Michael Gabor, 52, of Parma, a former office assistant in the auditor's office. Gabor is accused of bribery and conspiracy, including a charge that he tried to pay a judge $10,000 to fix his divorce case.
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AKRON, Ohio -- Former Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo testified today that Jimmy Dimora helped set up an impromptu meeting between a judge and contractor Steven Pumper at a fundraiser in Cleveland. Russo, testifying in the former county
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