CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM, AKRON, Ohio –Cleveland Ward 4 Councilman Kenneth Johnson, 75, was convicted of corruption and tax charges by a federal jury in Akron, Ohio on Friday following a two-week trial and faces at least 10 years in prison when he is sentenced on Oct 8. by U.S. District Court Judge John Adams.
The verdict has some members of the 17-member city council on edge, particularly Black council persons who fear that they might be next.
"While Ken's case may be more entwined, they could have targeted any of us," said a Black city council person on condition of anonymity.
Per Friday's jury verdict, Johnson is officially off council, an elected post he has held for 40 years.
Johnson’s longtime executive assistant, Garnell Jamison, 63, was also convicted, and on all 11 charges listed in his indictment. He faces more than five years in prison when Adams sentences him, also on Oct 8.
Both men are Black and both are free on bond.
After deliberating for four hours, the largely White jury found Johnson guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit theft from a governmental program, five counts of tax violations, six counts of theft from a federal program, and separate counts of tampering with a witness and falsifying
records.
Both men are expected to appeal with John's attorney, Myron Watson, saying the discrepancies were mere honest mistakes and Jamison's attorney, David Doughten, basically saying the same thing.
A 15-count indictment against Johnson was unsealed earlier this year in district court and centered on his monthly expense account relative to city monies he got for his east side ward and federal monies earmarked for the non-profit Buckeye- Shaker Square communities he serves. He was arrested thereafter.
According to the indictment, Johnson demanded the maximum amount of $1,200 monthly for his ward from the city's coffers but could not prove how much of the money, which has allegedly been requested for several years, including in 2019, has been spent.
Prosecutors called a host of witnesses during the closely watched trial, including Johnson's adopted son, practically all of those who took the stand testifying that Johnson was shady, some saying he had them sign documents for money for work they never performed and blatantly put monies in his bank account in an arbitrary fashion.
Prosecutors also said at trial that John Hopkins, 57, the one-time director of the Buckeye-Shaker Square Development Corp who was also indicted and has since pleaded guilty to theft and conspiracy from a federal program, assisted Johnson in steering at least $100,000 to his adopted sons for work that did not perform regarding a landscaping project relative to the nonprofit.
Megan Miller, an assistant U.S. attorney, told jurors during closing arguments Thursday that Johnson is just simply a crook who took advantage of his constituents and utilized other crooks to secure undue monies on the city's dime.
Johnson’s former friend, Robert Fitzpatrick, a 35-year former city employee, was also among those indicted and pleaded guilty to conspiracy involving fraudulent expense reports the councilman filed with the city.
Both Hopkins and Fitzpatrick, once Johnson's ally, testified against the former councilman at trial.
Prosecutors accused Johnson of illegally adjusting his gross income on tax forms to attempt to justify the theft, sometimes as much as $137,000.
Also at issue was what prosecutors said was Johnson's mishandling of federal and state monies regarding the Kenneth Johnson Recreation Center on Woodland Avenue, which is named after the former councilman, and is one of several city recreation centers that Fitzpatrick oversaw.
Johnson took the stand and testified on his behalf in an attempt to rebut the damaging testimony brought forth by the prosecution and said he was shocked and hurt that those who were once close to him turned on him.
Johnson's four-year city council term was set to expire on Dec 31 and though he was suspended from office on April 20 by a three-judge panel of retired judges appointed to hear the matter by Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor and replaced with current councilwoman Marion Anita Gardner , who is not seeking election to the seat this year, he, by law, was still receiving his $88, 000 a year salary.
His supporters say the prosecution was politically motivated by Republicans and a series of allegedly racist articles by former Plain Dealer columnist and Cleveland.com reporter Mark Naymik, and that "White council persons do the same thing but are not indicted."
Others say Johnson has misused his office for years and that the verdict fits the crimes.
Naymik left Cleveland.com in 2019 and took a reporting job with WKYC Channel 3 News in Cleveland.
Johnson is on the ballot for the Ward Sept 14 non-partisan primary along with 10 other candidates seeking to become council person of that ward, and while state law precludes felons from holding office in Ohio, which some dispute, it seemingly does not preclude them from running for office.
It is unlikely, however, that he will continue to seek reelection, sources said Friday, and since his sentencing is set for Oct 8, it is likely that he will be in prison when the primary election comes around.
Ward 4 encompasses the Buckeye area near Shaker Square along the Shaker Heights border, and the Woodland Hills and Mount Pleasant neighborhoods.
Cleveland Mayor Jackson, a four-term Black mayor who is not seeking reelection this year and a Johnson ally, has not commented on Johnson's indictment, or his convictions on 15 counts, and City Council President Kevin Kelley, a mayoral candidate, was taking a wait and see approach, though he has been critical of Johnson.
Mayor Jackson and all of the city council, nearly half of its members Black, are Democrats.
Jackson is the city's third Black mayor.
The office of mayor and city council are all up for grabs this year with the top two winners of the primary competing in the Nov. 2 general election.
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