Nine Years for Attorney Who Greased Palms in Cuyahoga County

CLEVELAND, OH – Anthony O. Calabrese III, 40, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, will spend the next nine years behind bars after being sentenced for his central role in a sprawling bribery scheme that choked Cuyahoga County for nearly a decade. U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi handed down the 108-month sentence and ordered Calabrese to pay $132,041 in restitution – $120,970 to Cuyahoga County and $11,071 to Parma schools. He’d already forfeited $74,450 in ill-gotten gains.

The sentence comes after Calabrese pleaded guilty to a staggering 18 counts, including racketeering, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services fraud, Hobbs Act conspiracy, bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, and plain old mail fraud. Federal investigators say Calabrese wasn’t just a participant; he *facilitated* the corruption, leveraging his position as an attorney to funnel bribes and kickbacks throughout the county’s power structure.

“Anthony Calabrese misused his status as an attorney to facilitate bribes and foster corruption,” stated Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cleveland Office. “Today’s sentence reflects the fact that Calabrese was deeply involved in a variety of bribery schemes involving a school district, a halfway house and the infamous trip to Las Vegas, just to name a few.” Assistant U.S. Attorney Antoinette Bacon drove home the point in court, asserting that Calabrese’s “criminal conduct spanned his entire legal career.”

Court documents detail a web of deceit stretching from 2001 to 2009. Calabrese, alongside figures like J. Kevin Kelley, helped secure tax-exempt status for Alternatives Agency in 2004. The scheme involved a $144,216.26 tax refund being funneled through a shell company, Business 45, with $72,000 ultimately earmarked for kickbacks to Calabrese and Kelley. Similar maneuvers played out with the Parma School Board, where Calabrese lobbied for a $1.8 million contract for Business 9, a client of his law firm, ensuring a cut for himself, Kelley, and others through another consulting firm, The Eagle Group. A $15,000 check from Business 9 to Eagle ultimately split between Kelley and Kevin Payne.

The rot extended to the funding of Alternatives Agency, with Calabrese allegedly instructing an employee to increase Kelley’s monthly consulting fee by $2,000 for four months – all to cover expenses for a lavish trip to Las Vegas. Calabrese’s involvement connects him to a cast of disgraced officials including former Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank P. Russo and former Cuyahoga County Commissioner James C. Dimora, all implicated in the widespread corruption. This case is another stark reminder that public trust is easily eroded when those sworn to uphold the law are instead lining their own pockets.

The investigation, a long and arduous undertaking by federal authorities, has now resulted in multiple convictions and sent a clear message: in Cuyahoga County, and beyond, bribery and corruption will be met with the full force of the law. The $132,041 restitution order, while a small fraction of the estimated $550,000 in improper payments, offers a small measure of justice to the taxpayers who were defrauded by this cynical scheme.