The noose must feel pretty tight now around Commissioner of Controversy Jimmy Dimora’s already-strained neck, now that another one of his “friends” from the “Group” has been indicted for giving Dimora and others a whole lot of freebies in exchange for much bigger contracts. It has to be getting pretty hard to just write all this off as a Republican ploy for county reform, especially with Group membership so anemic.
Feds alleged on Wednesday that they caught Steven Wayne Pumper, former chief exec at D-A-S Construction, bribing an already indicted building inspector (who’s pleaded guilty already to another series of bribes), and that Pumper then implicated Dimora and County Auditor Frankie Russo as being Top Dogs of this, among many, schemes. It apparently didn’t take much coaxing.
Investigators actually allege that Pumper did pretty much anything he could think of, shy of sexual favors (we hope), to land a lot of big deals, with building inspectors, county leaders, as well as in some school districts. They counted $33,000 in cash and about $45,000 in home remodeling work allegedly requested by Dimora, as well as the promise of a cush consultancy at the end of Dimora’s political line. It is one of several money-raising ruses Dimora seemingly is on the brink of being charged with orchestrating. According to the indictment, Dimora used some of his money as bait to help Pumper get a favorable divorce settlement and to woo county judge Bridget McCafferty for a favorable settlement in a case against his work on Cleveland Browns Stadium.
You want some water, Jimmy? You don’t look too good.
