Former judge sentenced to 60 days in jail for falsifying records
Former Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze of the Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court in Ohio was sentenced Monday to 60 days in jail and fined $10,000 after pleading guilty to falsifying records. (Photo from the Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court)
A former Ohio judge was sentenced Monday to 60 days in the county jail and fined $10,000 after pleading guilty to tampering with records, so that she could steer court business to a friend.
Former Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze of the Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court in Ohio pleaded guilty in February after reporting by the Marshall Project in Cleveland found that she steered work to a longtime family friend and court-appointed receiver in lucrative divorce cases in her court.
The FBI investigated, and Celebrezze was removed from practicing law for one year by the Ohio Supreme Court and retired from the bench last year. Celebrezze pleaded guilty to the single felony before the case was brought to a grand jury, according to the Marshall Project.
Prosecutors did not seek jail time, but visiting Judge Mark Wiest, a retired Wayne County Common Pleas Court judge in Ohio, said during sentencing Celebrezze’s status as a public official led him to impose this sentence.
“As a judge who’s on the bench for 43 years, plus 3-and-a-half years in retirement, it concerns me the harm to the judiciary that something like this causes,” Wiest said.
Wiest added, “Government officials, judges, mayors, elected officials are not held in high esteem by the public right now. And something like this, when it is reported to the public, just lowers that esteem.”
Moments before she was sentenced, Celebrezze choked up when trying to read a short, prepared statement.
“I am genuinely sorry,” Celebrezze said as she accepted responsibility, the Marshall Project reported.
Ideastream Public Media had coverage.
Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.
