Second Defendant in Cuyahoga County Corruption Probe Sentenced
| U.S. Attorney’s Office February 03, 2010 |
William J. Edwards, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio; C. Frank Figliuzzi, Special Agent in Charge of the Cleveland Division of the FBI; and Jose A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, today announced the sentencing of defendant Timothy Armstrong, the second defendant sentenced in connection with the Cuyahoga County Corruption Probe. Judge Kathleen M. O’Malley sentenced Armstrong, age 65, of Huron, Ohio, to 42 months of imprisonment, two years of supervised release, and 200 hours of community service for his role in a kickback scheme that caused a loss of approximately $11.5 million to the County. Judge O’Malley also ordered Armstrong to pay $1,573,345 (his share of the proceeds of the scheme) in restitution to Cuyahoga County. Armstrong had fulfilled that restitution obligation in advance of sentencing.
Armstrong previously pleaded guilty to conspiring with attorneys Louis C. Damiani (deceased), Bruce Zaccagnini and an unnamed lawyer to pay PO2 approximately $1.2 million in cash kickbacks on approximately $22 million in County commercial reappraisal contracts over a period of 10 years. Former Auditor’s Office employee Santina Klimkowski has pleaded guilty to serving as an intermediary for the kickback payments and has admitted accepting approximately $154,000 in cash kickbacks herself. Klimkowski has paid $91,859.48 toward restitution. The Court has not scheduled a sentencing date for Klimkowski. Zaccagnini has pleaded guilty for his role in the conspiracy and was sentenced yesterday to 60 months' imprisonment. In addition, the United States Attorney’s Office has filed a forfeiture action against $1.95 million which Louis Damiani obtained as a result of the conspiracy.
The following individuals were charged previously in connection with the Cuyahoga County corruption investigation:
DEFENDANT |
ROLE |
DATE CHARGED |
CASE STATUS |
| John Kevin Kelley | Former Geographic Information Systems project manager, Cuyahoga County Engineer’s Office; Former President, Parma City School District Board of Education; Principal, J. Kevin Kelley Consulting, LLC | 6/12/2009 | - Awaiting Sentencing - Guilty Plea 7/1/2009 |
| Kevin F. Payne | Retired Chief of Staff, Engineer’s Office, Cuyahoga County | 6/12/2009 | - Awaiting Sentencing - Guilty Plea 7/1/2009 |
| Daniel P. Gallagher | Retired Chief of Staff, Engineer’s Office, Cuyahoga County; Principal, The Eagle Group | 6/12/2009 | - Awaiting Sentencing - Guilty Plea 7/2/2009 |
| Brian Schuman | Former co-executive director, Alternatives Agency | 6/12/2009 | - Awaiting Sentencing - Guilty Plea 7/2/2009 |
| Steven Wayne Pumper | Chief Executive Officer, DAS Construction | 7/8/2009 | - Awaiting Sentencing - Guilty Plea 7/17/2009 - $3,664.00 payment toward restitution 11/9/2009 - $5,000.00 payment toward restitution 1/5/2010 |
| Dennis Dooley | Principal Office Assistant, Cuyahoga County Auditor’s Office | 7/22/2009 | - Awaiting Sentencing - Guilty Plea 9/9/2009 |
| John J. Carroll | Former Vice President of Facilities and Construction Services | 8/6/09 | - Awaiting Sentencing - Guilty Plea 9/9/2009 |
| Nilesh R. Patel | Former Vice President of East West Construction Company | 8/6/09 | - Awaiting Sentencing - Guilty Plea 9/9/2009 |
| Anthony Sinagra | Former principal of AC Sinagra & Associates; Former Mayor of Lakewood, Ohio; and Former member of The Ohio Senate. | 8/13/09 | - Awaiting Sentencing - Guilty Plea 8/31/2009 |
| Santina Klimkowski | Former elected member of the Maple Heights School Board of Education from 1981 to 2005; Former Department of Appraisal Specialist, Auditor’s Office | 9/18/09 | - Awaiting Sentencing - Guilty Plea 10/2/2009 - $91,859.48 payment toward restitution 1/25/10 |
| Timothy Armstrong | Attorney, Sole Practitioner | 9/18/09 | - Awaiting Sentencing - Guilty Plea 9/29/2009 - $1.2 Million payment toward restitution 12/30/09 - $373,545 payment toward restitution 1/29/10 |
| Bruce Zaccagnini | Partner, Belcuy Partners | 9/18/09 | - Guilty Plea 10/2/09 - $500,000 payment toward restitution 11/2/09 - Sentenced 2/2/2010 |
| John Valentin | Principal in Stone Design | 11/20/09 | - Awaiting Sentencing - Guilty Plea 12/16/2009 |
| Dinesh Bafna | President of Mont Granite | 11/20/09 | - Awaiting Sentencing - Guilty Plea 12/8/09 |
| Thomas Greco | Retired, Former Agent of MetroHealth Systems | 11/23/09 | - Arraignment 11/24/09 - Pled Not Guilty 11/24/09 |
| $1.95 Million | Proceeds from Louis Damiani’s criminal activity | Civil Forfeiture 12/11/09 | - Forfeiture filed 12/11/09 |
| Joseph Gallucci | Former employee of Auditor’s Office | 11/22/09 | - Awaiting Sentencing - Guilty Plea 1/8/2010 - $15,000 payment toward restitution 12/30/09 |
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ann C. Rowland and Antoinette T. Bacon, following investigation by the Cleveland office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service. The investigation is ongoing.