Prosecutors Appear to Have Called Last Witness Against Dimora
AKRON, Ohio –
After five weeks of testimony and four years of investigation, government prosecutors appear to have concluded presenting their massive corruption case against former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora.
Their final witness on Thursday was an IRS Agent who testified she has been sitting in the courtroom listening to all of the government’s witnesses testimony about bribes, gifts and kickbacks they said they gave Dimora from 2004 through 2007.
Kelly Fatula then showed the jury the federal tax returns for Dimora and his wife Lori to show that none of what witnesses said they did for him was claimed on his taxes.
Fatula calculated the Dimora’s never claimed more than $31,000 in gifts, female entertainment, and work done at the Dimora’s independence home in 2004. She told the jury he also failed to claim an additional $17,000 in 2005 including limousine trips and construction in his back yard.
Jurors were told Dimora’s tax forms also do not show nearly $16,000 in 2006, a figure that includes a refrigerator and television sets, as well as an $8,000 dollar party he threw for his wife then paid for using campaign contributions.
The largest sum that went unreported, according to Fatula, was in 2007, when she calculated Dimora was given more than $100,000 in cash and other gifts that included $62,000 worth of work at his home paid for by Steve Pumper of D.A.S. Construction.
Fatula testified there were dinners, tickets for sporting events, and other gifts that witnesses testified they gave Dimora for which she could not calculate a value
Of the cash and gifts she could calculate, Fatula testified that Dimora had more than $166,000 in unreported income and owes the government a grand total of $56,548 in back taxes plus interest and penalties.
Dimora’s tax returns showed only his County Commissioner’s salary plus his pension after serving as Mayor of Bedford Heights as the bulk of his reported income, claiming a little over $150,000 dollars in each of the four years that were examined.
With her testimony completed Judge Sara Lioi sent jurors home so that attorneys for both sides could go through a mountain of exhibits and evidence in preparation for defense attorneys starting to call witnesses of their own next week.
The information below reflects the dollar amounts in gifts, dinners, cash and entertainment that Dimora is alleged to have received from 2004 until 2007 based on witness testimony and documents shown during the trial.
FROM: Ferris Kleem -
Dinners – $4,000
Trout Club Dinners – Total Unknown
A Ring – $200
A Television – $2,500
A Refrigerator – $1,150
Cash for the refrigerator – $1,150
Casn for a Rolex Watch - $2,OOO
Lunches and dinners at Teamz and Tony K’s Restaurants – Total Unknown
A suite at the Mirage in Las Vegas – $1,148
Cash for Las Vegas $6,000
A Limousine to the Mirage – Total Unknown
Two days at the Bare Pool Cabana in Las Vegas – $1,475
Gaming Chips – $3,425
Dinner at the Prime Restaurant – $2,219
Entertained by a prostitute – $1,000
Discount for a second television set - $200
FROM: Cash from the Halfway House ‘Alternatives Agency’ for helping keep them in the county budget.
The first payment $824
The second payment $1,288
FROM: Kevin Payne
Use of Limousines: $14,020.18
Use of a Stonebridge Condominium: Total Unknown
Hotel and Dinner in Windsor Ontario: Total Unknown
Female Entertainment: $6,350
Female Entertainment: $1,000
FROM: Samir Mohammed, who was seeking a promotion.
Cash: $2,000 in Windsor.
FROM: J. Kevin Kelley
New Orleans, Numerous Dinners – Approximately $20,000
Graduation money for son – Total unknown
FROM: Plumbers Union and Business Manager Rob Rybak
Multiple meals: Total Unknown
Removal of an ice maker: Total Unknown
Labor only for plumbing at Dimora’s house: $615 -to- $1,090
Repair of a refrigerator ice maker: $50
Repair of a fawcet at Dimora’s home: $200
Winterize cabana, ice machine drain pipes: $50
Poker parties at union hall: Total Unknown
FROM: William Neiheiser
Beanie Wells Jersey: $3,600
Flush-up toilet in outdoor bathroom: $600
Kitchen sink and bathroom fawcet installation: $150
Labor for bathroom, supplies, fawcets, half-bath: $250
FROM: Executive Caterers at Landerhaven
Surprise birthday party for Lori Dimora: $8,725.51
Graduation party: $15,054.82
FROM: Steve Pumper, DAS Construction
Hanging the Beanie Wells Jersey in Dumora’s basement: Total Unknown
Irrigation Services at Dimora’s house: $1,793
Beacon Metals fabrication at Dimora’s backyard patio: $7,500
Outdoor bathroom construction: $13,098.68
Initial roof over backyard patio: $18,878.03
Shed: Total Unknown
Shelves: Total Unknown
Dinners, Drinks: Total Unknown
Cabinet door knob repairs: Total Unknown
Extended patio roof for outdoor kitchen: $27,224.62
Basketball tickets: $3,600
Baseball tickets: Total Unknown
Dinner at Delmonico’s: $133
Cash kickback from Oppman Garage deal with the county: $30,000
FROM: Salva Stone
Granite countertops at Dimora’s home: $6,000
FROM: Vandra Brothers Construction
Concrete work around pool at Dimora’s house: Total Unknown
Driveway Expansion: Total Unknown
Concrete pad: Total Unknown
Concrete footers for patio pillars: $1,089.59
FROM: Zavarella Brothers
Retaining wall in Dimora’s backyard: $13,404.30
Brick Columns for patio roof: $6,122
Patio extension, brick columns for outdoor kitchen: $13,477.81
Paving bricks, path alongside Dimora’s house, mailbox: Total Unknown
FROM: Charles Randazzo
Money used to buy a tiki bar for Dimora’s patio: $1,079.14
GRAND TOTAL $166,141.18
