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Press Release

Former Executive at North Canton Company Sentenced to more than Two Years in Prison for Violating Campaign Finance Laws

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Ohio

The former chief financial officer at a North Canton company was sentenced to more than two years in prison for violating campaign finance laws and conspiring to obstruct justice, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cleveland Office.

Michael Giorgio, 63, of Cuyahoga Falls, was sentenced to 27 months in prison. He pleaded guilty earler this year to seven counts: one count of conspiracy to violate the campaign finance laws, two counts of substantive campaign finance violations, three counts of causing the campaigns to make false statements in their FEC reports, and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice..

Giorgio admitted that while he worked at Suarez Corp., he and others funneled almost $200,000 in conduit contributions to U.S. House adn Senate campaigns in the 2012 election. Court documents detial 18 contributions, all made in March 2011, to a 2012 House campaign. It also details 20 contributions, all but one made in May 2011, to a 2012 Senate campaign.

Giorgio also admitted to obstructing justice. He did this by causing another executive at Suarez Corp. to create and distribute documents entitled “Advance on Profit Sharing” for all but one Suarez Corp. employee or contractor who has been reimbursed for campaign contributions. Those documents were intended to create the impression that the reimbursement payments that Suarez Corp. previously made to the conduit contributors were actually “advances” that all along were meant to be repaid to the company by the employees and contractors. They did this after newspaper reports detailed the suspicious contribution, according to court documents.

This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI-Canton Resident Agency. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Carole S. Rendon and Rebecca Lutzko.

Updated March 19, 2015