Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze resigned Monday after being charged with tampering with public records for funneling work in her courtroom to Mark Dottore, her longtime friend whom she’d repeatedly appointed to oversee lucrative divorce cases.
Celebrezze was charged by way of information — a process that often signals a defendant intends to plead guilty — and will be arraigned in criminal court on Tuesday. The vacancy on the Domestic Relations Court created by her resignation will be filled by the governor.
The third-degree felony charge, which carries a potential prison term of up to three years, comes more than two years after The Marshall Project – Cleveland first detailed Celebrezze’s relationship with Dottore. She has since faced disciplinary action from the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct, as well as a separate ongoing criminal investigation by the FBI.
In 2023, The Marshall Project – Cleveland also reported that Celebrezze, the administrative judge at the time, directed case assignments to herself but stated in court entries the cases had been randomly assigned to her.
“Integrity on the bench is not optional,” Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said in a statement on Monday. “Anything less erodes the foundation of our courts and our justice system.”
O’Malley’s statement said Celebrezze filed a case note on Jan. 19, 2023, that contained false information that she had been randomly assigned to a case. Instead, she had manually assigned herself the case.
Celebrezze’s attorney, Ian Friendman, asked the public to not judge Celebrezze on one single act.
“The judge has done so much good for so many by dedicating her entire professional life to public service,” Friedman wrote in a statement. “We will paint her full life’s work in the courtroom at the appropriate time.”
Dottore did not respond to a request for comment.
In some complex divorce cases, judges appoint receivers to act as neutral parties to control a couple’s marital assets, including real estate, cash, equipment, deposit accounts and businesses. The receivers are paid by the divorcing couples.
Celebrezze approved nearly $500,000 in fees to Dottore Cos. LLC between January 2017 and June 2023, The Marshall Project – Cleveland reported. The judge appointed either Dottore or his daughter to be the receiver in six cases she handled during that time, according to Cuyahoga County court records.
Cassandra Robertson, the director at the Center for Professional Ethics at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, said acts from dishonest judges taint all judges.
“Any kind of corruption or abuse of power is absolutely terrible for the judicial branch,” Robertson said. “It is hard to promote trust in the judicial system when judges engage in criminal acts. It destroys a lot of trust.”
Celebrezze, who is married, has conceded in court records that she loved Dottore when she bypassed the court’s random assignment process to shift cases to her docket and subsequently appointed Dottore as a receiver.
Dottore is a well-known, successful businessman who has endeared himself to multiple judges and courts around Northeast Ohio. He also served as campaign treasurer when Celebrezze ran successfully for her judgeship in 2008. Her campaign headquarters was listed under Dottore’s business address. Celebrezze took office in 2009 after voters elected her to replace her father, who had served nearly two decades on the Domestic Relations Court and two years on the Ohio Supreme Court.
On Dec. 9, the Cuyahoga County Council approved a $400,000 settlementwith former employee Georgeanna Semary, who accused the judge of witness intimidation and retaliation after Semary provided The Marshall Project – Cleveland with billing invoices involving Dottore. That’s on top of $250,000 the county paid in 2024 to cover Semary’s legal fees.
Celebrezze is also waiting to learn how the Ohio Supreme Court will discipline her for funneling work to Dottore. A state board in August called her actions an extensive pattern of misconduct and recommended a two-year suspension.
A report by the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct states Celebrezze made false statements to fellow judges and state investigators while steering work to Dottore. She also failed to disclose her personal interactions with other attorneys involved in the cases she presided over.
Had she not resigned, her term on the bench would have expired in 2027.
This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for their Cleveland newsletter and follow them on Instagram, TikTok, Reddit and Facebook.