Khalil Ewais, Hobbs Act Extortion, Ohio 2024

A City of Cleveland employee has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for extortion, bribery, and other crimes. Khalil Ewais, 44, pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act extortion, receipt of a bribe, federal program theft, making false statements, and filing false tax returns.

Ewais, a construction Section Chief in the Mayor’s Office of Capital Projects, oversaw construction inspectors who inspected work on the city’s roads, bridges, and sidewalks. He had a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the city and its citizens.

However, Ewais used his position to benefit himself and his private engineering and consulting business, Pioneer Engineering. He accepted below-market improvements on his property from a city contractor he supervised and directed city projects to benefit himself.

In one instance, Ewais contacted a company, Company 1, about paving the parking lot adjacent to a property he owned, Captain’s Grill, at 6104 Storer Ave. He instructed the company to quote the work at $26,000, a significant reduction from the original estimate of $48,923 to $59,152.

Ewais also used his official position to cause the city to pay to repave most of the short public alleyway next to the parking lot, West 62nd Place. The city had not previously rated the street for resurfacing, and Ewais directed a contractor to expand the scope of its work on the parking lot job to include milling and paving the alleyway.

Ewais will also pay restitution to the City of Cleveland and the Internal Revenue Service. His sentence is a result of a guilty plea to multiple charges, including Hobbs Act extortion, receipt of a bribe, federal program theft, making false statements, and filing false tax returns.

The case highlights the dangers of public corruption and the importance of holding government officials accountable for their actions. It serves as a reminder that those in power must act in the best interests of the public, not their own personal gain.

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