Feds take control of convicted county official's home

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Federal marshals officially take over the house Monday of a former county official convicted of accepting bribes, kickbacks and patronage.

Jimmy Dimora, 59, rose from his first full-time job as an operator at the Bedford Heights, Ohio, waste water treatment plant to Cuyahoga County commissioner and chairman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party over the course of 30 years. In 2010, FBI agents arrested him and in 2012 he was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison on 30 counts of corruption as part of a probe that resulted in charges against nearly five dozen elected officials, county workers and contractors.

Prosecutors said he built a political machine with former county auditor Frank Russo, and they ran it as their personal fiefdom. At Dimora's trial, his former buddies described his appetite for cash-stuffed envelopes, expensive steaks, Royal Crown whiskey and prostitutes and how he received free and discounted upgrades to his house.

When the Supreme Court declined to hear Dimora's appeal Oct. 6, it triggered a deal he made with prosecutors to have his wife move out of their home, valued at $437,000, six months after he exhausted his appeals.

Moving trucks came a month or two ago to this four-bedroom, 2.5-bath, 3,328-square-foot house in this Cleveland suburb and the family came by Saturday to pack up the rest of their things.

Now that they're out, authorities plan to sell the two-story home with a third story loft that he bought in 1999 for $399,000, according to Cuyahoga County Auditor's Office records. Dimora's wife, Lori, will be allowed to keep half the proceeds.

"It's just sad," said one neighbor, who did not want to be identified. "The Dimoras I knew were nice people, I feel bad this happened to them."

But a family looking to buy a home in the upscale neighborhood thought they might get a bargain and asked their real-estate agent when it would be available.

Deputy marshals will inspect and process the home and plan to have it listed for sale within two weeks.