Colorful language marks Dimora trial

Britni Williams

Editor’s note: The following article contains many of the obscenities used throughout the trial, as heard in the United States District Court.

Former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora is on trial for bribery and racketeering in the U.S. District Court in Akron.

Wiretaps from J. Kevin Kelley, former consultant for Alternatives Agency, Inc., to various people involved in the case—including Dimora and Brian Schuman, co-director of Alternatives Agency—are being used by the prosecution as evidence in the trial.

The language included in the wiretaps is quite explicative to the point of shocking.

In one of the wiretaps, Schuman complains to Kelley that someone “wants to make everything fucking difficult,” and he calls another person “a cunt.”

In two other wiretaps, Schuman tells Kelley “we got the fuckin’ juice,” and “oh, you cock.”

Kelley, on two separate tapes, told Schuman “it’s going to be a fucking nightmare,” and “we’re going to fuck them good and hard.”

In his testimony, Schuman said he has already taken a plea deal and plead guilty to one count of bribery. He has not yet been sentenced, but as part of his plea deal, he is a witness in Dimora’s trial. He will also have to pay $10,000 in restitution.

In another wiretap, Dimora called Kelley a “misfit mother fucker” and a “reformed cock sucker.”

While the language in the evidence is obscene and almost juvenile, the charges against Dimora are serious.

Dimora was originally indicted on 31 counts of bribery, racketeering and misuse of monies for a federally funded agency. He was indicted a second time shortly after the first indictment, which superseded the original. Dimora now faces between 36 and 41 counts of bribery, racketeering and misuse of monies.

Contact Britni Williams at [email protected].