Lawyers clash in closing arguments over corruption allegations by Cleveland City Councilor Kenneth Johnsons

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AKRON, Ohio Federal prosecutors on Thursday described Cleveland City Councilor Kenneth Johnson as a thief who used vulnerable people to steal city money and cheat the IRS.

They told a federal jury that Johnson came up with a series of stories about his philanthropy and love for his neighborhood to cover his plans. Instead, he manipulated the people around him, including his adopted children, to get what he wanted, they said.

He was not raising children; he was creating tools to commit crimes, Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Gould said, adding that Johnson was looking to prey on the weak. All were planets revolving around Kenneth Johnson’s declining sun.

Gould made the statements during closing arguments in Johnson’s federal corruption trial before U.S. District Judge John Adams and a jury. Moments later, Adams handed the matter over to jurors and they will begin deliberating on Friday morning.

Johnson and his longtime aide Garnell Jamison, 63, are charged with conspiracy, tax offenses and theft-related offenses involving Johnson’s work at Cleveland City Hall. They are also accused of tampering with a witness and falsifying records as part of a federal investigation.

Johnson testified on Wednesday and denied the allegations. Jamison did not testify during the trial. If convicted, Johnson faces around 10 years in prison, while Jamison faces around five.

Defense lawyer Myron Watson scoffed at the allegations. He admitted Johnson relied on others to handle taxes and provide receipts for his donations to a community center named after him. But he said Johnson was taking care of the people in his ward, especially the children.

Watson said hundreds of residents could have witnessed Johnson’s generosity and empathy for residents of one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

Whenever someone asked him to put his hand in his pocket, he did, Watson said. [Prosecutors] talk about numbers and documents, but this man is trying to save lives.

David Doughten, an attorney for Jamisons, said his client did as he was told and was not aware of any attempts to harm anyone. He said prosecutors could not prove Jamison intended to commit crimes.

Johnson and Jamison are accused of a series of ploys. Prosecutors allege they tampered with city council reimbursement forms by asking longtime friend Robert Fitzpatrick to sign timesheets for a job he never did for city councilor. The city paid Johnson more than $ 127,000 from 2010 to the end of 2018.

Johnson and Jamison also cheated the IRS because the city councilor owes $ 92,000 for the 2014 to 2018 tax years, according to testimony. Prosecutors said the men dramatically increased Johnson’s deductions for donations he made to the recreation center. Johnson said he donated tens of thousands of dollars in home appliances, sports equipment and travel to basketball tournaments.

Johnson testified that he expected others to put the files together, saying he was too busy dealing with city legislation to keep up with the documents.

The tax issue spilled over into the costs of forgery and forgery. Officials last fall subpoenaed the recreation center for records and information on Johnson’s donations.

Elijah Johnson, one of the city councilors’ adopted children, is the centre’s director. He testified that he called Jamison for help after receiving the document. Soon the city councilor and Jamison built a binder of information on the councilor’s donations, including Kenneth Johnson’s work on designing a project for a kitchen.

The city, however, has no record of donations from Kenneth Johnson, and prosecutors said there had been little to no change at the center since 2014. Elijah Johnson later brought the binder with him to testify before the grand jury.

Three of Johnson’s other adopted children worked at Buckeye-Shaker Square Development Corp., which used federal money to revitalize the neighborhood. They cut the grass as part of a landscaping crew, but Johnson deposited their checks, about $ 36,000, into his own account. Under federal law, city employees and their relatives cannot benefit from the program.

There’s no question about it, Watson told jurors. The files were not perfect. But did Mr Johnson have the knowledge and the intention to steal money?

Johnson said he paid Fitzpatrick for the work. He said he was extremely close to Fitzpatrick, even helping him buy a house and provide him with household appliances.

It’s amazing to me that a man comes here and says [he was never paid], Watson said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Miller disagreed.

She said Jamison and Johnson conspired to get Fitzpatrick to sign the timesheets for a job he never did. In 2017 and 2018, Fitzpatrick took a group of young people to out-of-state basketball tournaments. The timesheets, however, continued.

Money was the engine; manipulation was the mechanism, Miller said.

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