Ohio: There's always a Vegas connection

Charges against Frank Russo reveal details of Las Vegas trip from contractor

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Former Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo accepted a $6,000 gambling trip to Las Vegas from a contractor who sought millions of dollars in county business, prosecutors say.

"Don't say anything, but we just met with [contractor Ferris Kleem] who's going to be there. He's gonna have whores, and he's got a tiki hut by the pool. He's got everything," Russo told a friend in a conversation, according to court records.

"I heard," the friend said. "That's a beautiful thing. That's awesome."

The trip and Russo's words about it were included in 21 public corruption charges federal prosecutors filed Thursday in U.S. District Court. The charges detail how Russo used bribes, gifts and kickbacks to grease his 13-year career as auditor.

"We already knew that he was corrupt; the charges just fill in the blanks," said Catherine Turcer, who studies money in politics for Ohio Citizen Action, a public watchdog. "For years, it has seemed that corruption has been swept under a rug. Today, when we pick up the rug, you see that it is disgusting."

Kleem has admitted that he bribed Russo and county Commissioner Jimmy Dimora on the trip. An employee of a halfway house on East 55th Street also chipped in.

Brian Schuman, who worked for Alternatives Agency, helped pay for the airfare in an attempt to gain $250,000 for a work release program. Weeks after the trip, Alternatives Agency obtained its funding.

The trip to Las Vegas first surfaced when Schuman pleaded guilty last year to bribery charges. More details came out in May, when Kleem, a top executive of Blaze Construction Co. and its affiliates, pleaded guilty to bribery.

Prosecutors said Kleem hired a prostitute for Dimora, at a cost of $1,000, during the trip.

Dimora, who has not been named in the corruption investigation but matches the description of Public Official 1, has denied the allegations, and he has not been charged. His attorney, Richard Lillie, could not be reached for comment.

Thursday's charges spelled out Russo's role, the preparations for the trip and the lengths that Russo went to keep it secret.

Kleem first approached Russo in the fall of 2006, when the contractor asked the auditor for help in obtaining a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the city of Berea. The city wanted to build a pedestrian bridge connecting a nature trail to a pavilion on Coe Lake.

Prosecutors said Russo used his job as auditor to help expedite the city's application for the $150,000 grant. On Feb. 1, 2007, the county commissioners approved the grant.

A year later, Russo helped one of Kleem's businesses obtain a contract for $4.6 million for concrete work on the new juvenile justice center on East 93rd Street and Quincy Avenue. It received the contract.

Another of Kleem's companies tried for a $38 million contract to handle the general trades portion of the juvenile justice center.

"Ohhh, try everything to give it to him," Russo told Dimora on Feb. 26, 2008.

But Kleem's company wasn't the low bidder, prompting Dimora to say that there wasn't much he could do. He would have a tough time explaining to other county officials why they would have to toss out the lowest bid, according to the charges.

Before the trip, Kleem handed Russo an envelope with $6,000 in cash; $1,000 of it was for his airfare to Las Vegas and $5,000 for gambling at the Mirage Hotel and Casino.

After Russo returned from Las Vegas, a Plain Dealer reporter called him about it. Russo told the reporter it was just a bunch of guys who went to have fun.

But in a conversation April 10, 2008, with Dimora, who also went on the trip, Russo brought up the reporter's call. They "agreed it was nobody's business about their personal trip because the county didn't pay for their trip," according to the charges.

"I'm not going to tell [the reporter] that I saw Ferris Kleem over there [in Las Vegas]," Dimora said.

Russo interjected: "No. No. I would say I didn't see him. . . . Whatever you do, don't mention his name."