Eric Witherspoon, Bribing City Employee, Ohio 2023

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Eric Witherspoon, 56, of Warrensville Heights, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and fined $5,000 after pleading guilty to bribery in federally funded programs.

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman emphasized that public contracts should go to the most qualified, not the best connected. Witherspoon, the owner of an asbestos removal and demolition business in Cleveland, submitted bids to the city in an attempt to obtain contracts for abatement and demolition work.

Witherspoon's scheme involved paying bribes to Rufus Taylor, the former Chief of the Demolition Bureau, in exchange for confidential information and advice about potential board-up and demolition jobs in the city. The two men met at restaurants, job sites, and in parked cars to discuss their arrangement.

According to court records, Witherspoon paid Taylor $3,000 in November 2013 for a demolition job on Parkwood Drive. In February 2017, the two men were recorded discussing their mutually beneficial relationship in a parked vehicle.

This case was investigated by agents with the Cleveland Division of FBI, Housing and Urban Development-OIG, and Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigations and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chelsea S. Rice and Elliot Morrison.

The sentencing represents the U.S. Attorney's Office's continuing resolve to root out fraud and corruption in all forms, particularly when the programs involved should have been used to help neediest families. Witherspoon's conviction serves as a warning to those who misue or improperly handle public funds.

Rufus Taylor, the former Chief of the Demolition Bureau, pleaded guilty to extortion and bribery in a federally funded program on September 4, 2018, and will be sentenced before Judge Christopher A. Boyko.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndoh/pr/cleveland-business-owner-sentenced-15-months-bribing-city-demolition-employee