President Joe Biden commuted the sentence of disgraced former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, ending the former Democrat’s punishment for widespread corruption that landed him in prison for more than a decade and caused a complete….see more

President Joe Biden on Thursday commuted the sentence of disgraced former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, ending the former Democrat’s punishment for widespread corruption that landed him in prison for more than a decade and caused a complete overhaul of the county’s government.

Biden approved Dimora’s request as part of the largest single-day granting of clemency in history.

Biden commuted the sentence for nearly 1,500 people who were convicted of non-violent crimes and released at least one year ago under the CARES Act. The act sought to ease the burden on crowded federal prisons during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dimora declined to comment through his former attorney, Phil Kushner.

“I’m happy for him,” Kushner said. “He’s now a free man.”

Dimora’s conviction will remain on his record, but Biden’s act means the former commissioner will not have to serve the remainder of his sentence on house arrest.

Dimora, 69, was released from prison in June 2023, seven years shy of his estimated release date. That came in the waning days of the CARES Act, which allowed U.S. Bureau of Prison officials to decide releases based on the type of crime committed, inmates’ health and the security level they were being held in.

Dimora suffers from a variety of ailments, including a heart defect, an intestinal disorder, an inner-ear equilibrium disease and knee issues, according to court records.

After his release, he was placed on home confinement and lived with family in Streetsboro. He was supposed to remain on home confinement until 2030.

Friends and supporters were elated by the news.

Martin Sweeney, a friend of Dimora’s and a Cuyahoga County councilman, said that he was thrilled and that the decision was long overdue. He said Dimora has been in good spirits since his release from prison, though he remained upset about having to wear an ankle monitor after his release.

“Maybe we should have an ankle-monitor-cutting-off party,” Sweeney said. “There’s going to be a lot of people celebrating the end of this long road for Jimmy. I’m glad it’s over.”
Andrea Whitaker defended Dimora at his federal trial in Akron with her father Bill. She said she was “thrilled” to hear the sentence was commuted.

David Mills, one of his appellate attorneys who worked on an application for commutation for Dimora, said he was relieved.

“I think it’s the right thing,” Mill said. “I know there’s a lot of varying opinions of Jimmy Dimora, but from my knowledge of the case, I think this is a just outcome after serving more than 12 years. There’s not a lot of public corruption cases where someone is sentenced that severely.”

Former U.S. Attorney Ann Rowland, who prosecuted the case against Dimora, said she made it her policy not to comment on the case once she left the office.
Rowland led the legal saga that began with shocking raids in July 2008 and Dimora’s 2010 arrest in a massive pay-to-play scheme Dimora orchestrated with Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo, who died in April 2022 after he was released from prison.

The duo gave county contracts to contractors in exchange for money, trips, gifts and favors.

Nearly 60 politicians, government officials and contractors were convicted after the investigation by the FBI and IRS. Cuyahoga County voters approved wholesale changes to the county form of government in the wake of the investigation and convictions, changing from one run by three commissioners to one governed by a county executive and council.

Prosecutors said Dimora made about $450,000 off bribes, including trips to Las Vegas, prostitutes and an infamous outdoor stone-fired pizza oven installed in the backyard of his Independence home.
Dimora was initially sentenced in 2012 to 28 years in what was, at the time, one of the Ohio’s most expansive corruption cases in history.

That sentence in 2022 was cut to 25 years in prison after a U.S. Supreme Court decision in a different case that clarified the definition of what constitutes a bribe under federal law.