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How our reporting helped spur a federal investigation into Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze
The relationship between Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze and her longtime friend and court-appointed receiver Mark Dottore is now under the FBI’s microscope.
A federal grand jury subpoena delivered to the court on Feb. 13 shows that federal investigators are examining Celebrezze and Dottore’s relationship as far back as 2008, when Celebrezze was first elected.
Investigators are looking at how Celebrezze has assigned lucrative divorce cases to Dottore, who has earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees since 2017, according to the subpoena. The Marshall Project - Cleveland has reported numerous times in the last 18 months that federal agents have been interviewing people tied to the divorce cases in which Dottore was appointed receiver.
The Marshall Project - Cleveland has been the only news outlet in Northeast Ohio to dig into this case from the outset. We first began reporting on the relationship in 2023 after getting a tip about the relationship.
We examined thousands of pages of court records. We sifted through dozens of boxes in the courthouse basement looking for invoices and payment records. Investigative journalism takes time and patience. It took weeks to compile different records for the story.
Receiverships in divorce cases typically fly under the public’s radar because the money paid to receivers comes from couples, not taxpayers. As a result, court officials did not know how much money Dottore Companies, LLC, earned — nor could they produce records from before 2017.
Court officials must hand over thousands of pages of records for a grand jury hearing March 4.
Celebrezze is also scheduled to appear for a disciplinary hearing before the Board of Professional Conduct on March 31.
Read our collection of stories here.
– Mark Puente
Cleveland says police have improved under consent decree
As Cleveland continues its nearly 10-year effort to reform its police force under a consent decree agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration filed a new report in federal court that details its progress.
The 16th Status Report is the city’s take on police reforms such as crisis intervention, bias-free policing, search and seizure policies, accountability, transparency and oversight.
The 18-page document outlines improvements noted by Cleveland’s Police Accountability Team and does not have any feedback from the federal monitors overseeing the consent decree. A new report from the federal monitor is expected in the coming weeks.
The report provides several examples of improvements.
It says that the city is “firmly committed to enhancing transparency and oversight” and has worked with federal officials and monitors to change the long-vacant position of inspector general, the report states.
The new inspector general will report to the city’s public safety director instead of the police chief. This “provides the IG with the necessary independence to conduct their duties as outlined in the Consent Decree,” according to the report.
The report also says the city is waiting for feedback as federal monitors assess the “2022 Stops Data Report” on all police encounters for that year.
In October, a Marshall Project - Cleveland and News 5 Cleveland analysis found that police searched Black people more than three times as often as White people during stops in 2023 — despite finding contraband at similar rates.
The city is now in its 10th year of federal oversight after years of police abuses and millions of dollars spent to settle civil rights lawsuits. The consent decree created a blueprint to repair community relationships and overhaul how officers frequently used excessive force on residents.
– Mark Puente
Volunteer pretrial support aims to reduce jail population
The Universalist Unitarian Congregation of Cleveland is out to prove that, with personalized support, fewer people with felony charges would miss court and end up in jail.
The church's social justice project is funded by a $105,000, two-year grant from UUCC’s Sue McKimm Fund for Congregational Advancement and supported by Advancing Pretrial Policy & Research at the national nonprofit Center for Effective Public Policy. The program is tracking outcomes for pretrial clients assisted by 40 volunteer “navigators” who undergo extensive training.
Existing programs at the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas ensure compliance with court orders through electronic monitoring and supervision of select groups, like people with mental health and developmental disability needs. UUCC is hoping to fill a gap with one-on-one support that addresses barriers to showing up in court.
Pat Dillard, a church member on the project’s steering committee, said many clients struggle because of a lack of housing, transportation, food, access to required government documents or other reasons.
“They have so many things on their mind,” she said. “It's like a cycle that makes you focus on your immediate needs. Your mind just doesn't recall that, ‘Oh, yeah, I had a court date.’”
While numbers are on the decline, county judges signed nearly 11,000 warrants for failing to appear at arraignment in the past three years. One arrest order was issued for every five scheduled hearings in 2024.
So far, UUCC has received all of its clients as referrals from the county public defender’s office. Dillard wants court-appointed and private defense attorneys to know that their clients can get help as well by calling 440-318-4365 or emailing pretrial.support@uucleveland.org.
– Doug Livingston
Around the 216
- The head of Cleveland’s Office of Professional Standards, which oversees the city’s police force, says he is poised to resign amid an investigation into the release of sensitive data. News 5 Cleveland
- The Cleveland Community Police Commission says city police have yet to fully investigate more than two dozen claims of sexual harassment, workplace violence and discrimination lodged against officers. Signal Cleveland
- Two Cleveland City Council members are questioning the spending habits of federal monitors overseeing the implementation of the consent decree between the city and the U.S. Department of Justice. Fox 8 News
