The feds have indicted Vince Russo, son of county auditor Frank Russo, on charges of being an evil, dirty Santa Claus.
OK, so that's not in the indictment exactly. The young Russo is officially charged with bribery and with conspiracy to bribe, extort, and obstruct.
The feds say Russo, 31, gave widescreen HD TVs to two Maple Heights school officials in December 2007. Allegedly, on Dec. 21, 2007, Russo got a "Business 14" to buy a 46-inch Sharp Aquos liquid crystal TV -- selling on Amazon for $1,799 these days -- which Russo passed on to board member Sandy Klimkowski to give to schools treasurer Christopher Krause, who put it in his basement. Klimkowski allegedly got a Vizio. Prosecutors think there's a connection to some of the Maple Heights schools' business transactions in 2007 and 2008.
After the FBI raided the county building and Business 14 in July 2008, Russo allegedly told Klimkowski she and Krause should "get rid of" them. Krause, not quite willing to part with that amazing high-def clarity, stashed his in a Maple Heights schools warehouse instead.
So what's Business 14? If it's the same Business 14 from the MetroHealth corruption cases, it may be Doan Pyramid, raided in July 2008 and mentioned on lots of search warrants since.
What's this mean for Clevelanders who are waiting and waiting to for the prosecutors to indict Frank Russo already? The feds are getting closer to their endgame -- they're amping up the pressure on Vince's dad. They managed to charge Vince three times for giving K&K the TVs -- bribery, bribery conspiracy and extortion conspiracy! (Shouldn't they pick one?)
Can't you see the worried father's breakdown at the 48th minute of the Law & Order episode?
"All right! I'll plead. Just... go easy on my son."
Update, 7/14, pm: Vince Russo pleaded not guilty in court today. "We intend to go to trial and defend [against] these charges," his lawyer, Bill Beyer, told reporters on the federal courthouse steps today. Beyer said there's another explanation for the TVs, which he'll reveal at trial. See the cleveland.com video here.
The indictment suggests that only the Sharp TV came from Business 14, not both TVs. I've rewritten the post to correct that.
Showing posts with label metrohealth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label metrohealth. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
MetroHealth scandal almost revealed 5 years ago
Sometimes you can tell how good a story is by the debates it sparks on the publication's op-ed and letters pages.
Like today, when the Plain Dealer spars with William Gaskill, chairman of the board of MetroHealth, the county hospital, on page A5.
Here's the story Gaskill's angry about: "Hospital was warned of problems with exec" -- a must-read Sunday article by James McCarty about two contractors who tried to prove that MetroHealth vice-president John Carroll was steering contracts five years ago.
This month, federal prosecutors filed six federal charges against Carroll, including bribery conspiracy. He's accused of taking "travel, gift cards, home improvements and home furnishings valued at approximately $678,000" from co-defendant Nilesh Patel, a vice-president at East West Construction Company. Carroll allegedly took free trips to France, Italy, the Netherlands, Italy Japan and Singapore thanks to Patel. East-West got $51 million in contracts from MetroHealth.
In 2004, Lou Joseph and Jeff Zellers of Brewer-Garrett Corp. "complained to anyone who would listen that Carroll was stacking the deck when putting out bids," McCarty reports. They warned the hospital's then-president, then-chairwoman, and top lawyer about Carroll, complained to the county prosecutor, then sued. A judge declared their allegations showed an "appearance of impropriety" and ordered a contract rebid -- but Carroll fixed the rebidding too, the story says. The hospital did not act until an IRS audit uncovered irregularities last year. Then it fired Carroll.
Gaskill complains that "we had no credible evidence of wrongdoing by Carroll" in 2004. He notes that Zellers himself says in the article, "There were always rumors... but nothing we could substantiate." But the PD buys the ink, so it gets the last word. Its editorial on the same page asks why no one at MetroHealth seems to have bothered to watch Carroll more closely after the lawsuit. Good question.
Like today, when the Plain Dealer spars with William Gaskill, chairman of the board of MetroHealth, the county hospital, on page A5.
Here's the story Gaskill's angry about: "Hospital was warned of problems with exec" -- a must-read Sunday article by James McCarty about two contractors who tried to prove that MetroHealth vice-president John Carroll was steering contracts five years ago.
This month, federal prosecutors filed six federal charges against Carroll, including bribery conspiracy. He's accused of taking "travel, gift cards, home improvements and home furnishings valued at approximately $678,000" from co-defendant Nilesh Patel, a vice-president at East West Construction Company. Carroll allegedly took free trips to France, Italy, the Netherlands, Italy Japan and Singapore thanks to Patel. East-West got $51 million in contracts from MetroHealth.
In 2004, Lou Joseph and Jeff Zellers of Brewer-Garrett Corp. "complained to anyone who would listen that Carroll was stacking the deck when putting out bids," McCarty reports. They warned the hospital's then-president, then-chairwoman, and top lawyer about Carroll, complained to the county prosecutor, then sued. A judge declared their allegations showed an "appearance of impropriety" and ordered a contract rebid -- but Carroll fixed the rebidding too, the story says. The hospital did not act until an IRS audit uncovered irregularities last year. Then it fired Carroll.
Gaskill complains that "we had no credible evidence of wrongdoing by Carroll" in 2004. He notes that Zellers himself says in the article, "There were always rumors... but nothing we could substantiate." But the PD buys the ink, so it gets the last word. Its editorial on the same page asks why no one at MetroHealth seems to have bothered to watch Carroll more closely after the lawsuit. Good question.
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