Nearly six months after resigning in disgrace, former Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze was sentenced to 60 days in jail and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine for falsifying records to steer work to a friend.
Celebrezze, who spent 16 years on the bench, stood motionless as Visiting Judge Mark Wiest from Wayne County handed down the punishment.
Celebrezze faced a potential prison sentence of up to three years for the third-degree felony charge of tampering with records for steering work to Mark Dottore, a longtime family friend whom she’d repeatedly appointed to oversee lucrative divorce cases.
Across multiple generations, the Celebrezze family built an enduring political dynasty that has wielded power and influence from Cleveland to Washington, D.C.
During disciplinary hearings before the Ohio Supreme Court, Celebrezze admitted to 15 violations of professional and judicial conduct rules. The court suspended her in January from the practice of law for two years, with one year stayed. She is now expected to lose her law license after being convicted.
Since the 1920s, Celebrezze family members have occupied an extraordinary sweep of public offices, from Cleveland mayor and state attorney general to the state Supreme Court, appellate courts and county benches.
Source: Former Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze Sentenced to 60 Days in Jail | The Marshall Project