A federal grand jury subpoena delivered to the Cuyahoga County Home Relations Courtroom reveals that federal investigators are investigating Choose Leslie Ann Celebrezze and her ties to court-appointed receiver Mark Dottore since she was elected in 2008.
The wide-ranging grand jury subpoena, dated Feb. 12, comes after The Marshall Challenge – Cleveland detailed in June 2023 how Celebrezze assigned herself a number of divorce instances and appointed Dottore and his firm as a receiver — what’s meant to be a impartial social gathering to deal with marital property together with actual property, money and companies — in profitable divorce instances.
Federal brokers are requesting hundreds of pages of data. Brokers are additionally in search of info on how the courtroom’s different judges appoint receivers in divorce instances.
Celebrezze accredited almost $500,000 in charges for Dottore Firms, LLC between January 2017 and June 2023, The Marshall Challenge – Cleveland reported. The choose appointed both Dottore or his daughter to be the receiver in six of the eight instances she was dealing with on the time, in accordance with Cuyahoga County courtroom data.
Celebrezze didn’t reply Tuesday to a request for remark. Dottore referred to as the grand jury subpoena a “witch hunt.”
“It’s all bullshit,” Dottore instructed The Marshall Challenge – Cleveland on the phone. “Nothing in there’s true. I by no means took something from her. I get appointed to courts in 38 states. So little of my enterprise is in Cleveland.”
The federal subpoena seeks contracts, subcontracts, billing info, charge approvals and cost info associated to Dottore Firms, LLC.
Federal investigators additionally need:
All written and digital correspondence between any courtroom worker and representatives of Dottore Firms, LLC
Insurance policies and procedures governing the judicial appointments of receivers, the task of instances, conflicts of pursuits, recusals and the position of the executive choose
Any and all personnel data for Celebrezze and her employees, together with efficiency opinions, evaluations and any public complaints and/or referrals
Present and historic listing/worker checklist of Home Relations Courtroom judges and their employees
Any and all payroll data for Celebrezze
The subpoena, written by FBI agent Michael Pinto and Assistant U.S. Legal professional Vanessa Healy, orders the courtroom handy over data for the grand jury listening to on March 4 at 9 a.m.
In 2023, Celebrezze and Dottore instructed The Marshall Challenge – Cleveland that they have been lifelong mates, even after a personal investigator recorded movies of them kissing exterior a steakhouse and Celebrezze visiting Dottore’s residence and workplace quite a few occasions. Every denied a romantic relationship.
Dottore even served as marketing campaign treasurer when Celebrezze ran efficiently for her judgeship in 2008. Her marketing campaign headquarters is listed underneath Dottore’s enterprise deal with.
In July 2023, The Marshall Challenge – Cleveland reported how the 5 Cuyahoga County Home Relations Courtroom judges, together with Celebrezze, deal with hundreds of recent instances annually. Three of these judges instructed The Marshall Challenge – Cleveland that they by no means appoint receivers.
Two of these three judges additionally declined to reply questions on whether or not Celebrezze ever requested them to recuse themselves from a case, which might permit her to imagine management because the then-administrative choose and make the profitable appointments.
The amount of labor Celebrezze gave to Dottore has sparked concern over whether or not she usurped case task coverage to steer instances to her buddy.
Choose Tonya Jones recused herself in 2022 from the divorce case of Strongsville businessman Jason Jardine.
Her preliminary recusal didn’t checklist which choose would deal with the case, courtroom data present. Three days later, she vacated it and filed a second one, writing that it was “additional ordered that this matter be reassigned to Administrative Choose Leslie Ann Celebrezze.”
Celebrezze then accredited lots of of hundreds of {dollars} in charges for Dottore Firms, LLC.
In August 2023, Ohio Supreme Courtroom Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy completely eliminated Celebrezze from Jardine’s case. Kennedy discovered that Celebrezze violated courtroom guidelines when she bypassed courtroom coverage to assign the case to her personal docket and appoint Dottore as receiver.
The Ohio Disciplinary Counsel then launched an investigation in November 2024 and alleged Celebrezze made a false assertion and has ties to Dottore. Celebrezze has already admitted to violating quite a few judicial codes of conduct for failing to recuse herself from a divorce case involving Dottore.
She faces a disciplinary listening to in March.
The subpoena additionally seeks personnel data for Celebrezze’s employees. These data are on the middle of a courtroom battle with a former worker.
In September 2023, Georgeanna Semary, considered one of Celebrezze’s longtime judicial assistants, filed a lawsuit contending Celebrezze transferred her out of the workplace and compelled her to take a $20,000 pay lower after she allowed The Marshall Challenge – Cleveland to evaluate public courtroom data involving Dottore.
A visiting choose dismissed the lawsuit, however it’s now underneath attraction to a particular panel of judges assigned by the Ohio Supreme Courtroom. All judges on the Eighth District Courtroom of Appeals recused themselves from the case.
“It’s encouraging that federal authorities are apparently comprehensively investigating,” Subodh Chandra, Semary’s lawyer, wrote in an announcement concerning the grand jury subpoena. “This reinforces Ms. Semary’s grievance allegations that she was a witness — and endured retaliation and intimidation because of this.”
Celebrezze took workplace in 2009 after voters elected her to exchange her father, James Celebrezze, who had served almost 20 years on the Cuyahoga County Home Relations Courtroom bench.
She made headlines that very same 12 months after the Ohio Supreme Courtroom ordered her removing from a divorce case involving Marc Strauss, a rich actual property developer. Dottore was additionally the receiver within the case and cited as a purpose to disqualify Celebrezze, The Plain Supplier reported in Could 2009.
James Celebrezze appointed Dottore to that case and 10 others over the last six months of 2008, netting Dottore $340,000 in charges. But “the choose gave no work to another receivers throughout the identical interval, data present, regardless of an Ohio Supreme Courtroom rule that such appointments be rotated equitably,” the Plain Supplier reported.
Dottore’s charges and work have come underneath scrutiny earlier than.
In 2005, Cleveland Scene detailed disputes about how Dottore payments events in instances. Cuyahoga County Widespread Pleas Courtroom Choose Nancy M. Russo raised questions on Dottore’s practices.
“I’d by no means appoint him once more,” Russo instructed Cleveland Scene in 2005.
Dottore mentioned the character of his work created enemies.
