The Ohio Disciplinary Counsel called Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze dishonest, and said she had left a stain on the judicial system and that arrogance likely led to her legal troubles.
Disciplinary Counsel Joseph Caligiuri blasted Celebrezze in a 13-page brief after the judge asked the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct to only give her a public reprimand for 15 rule violations. She has already admitted to steering hundreds of thousands of dollars in receivership work from lucrative divorce cases to her longtime friend Mark Dottore.
“To protect the integrity of the institution, (I urge) this panel to recommend an actual suspension from the practice of law,” Caligiuri wrote on June 13.
Celebrezze did not reply to a request for comment.
Caligiuri’s reply to Celebrezze’s request comes days after a visiting judge ruled that Dottore must repay hundreds of thousands for unauthorized expenses and overbilling to a Strongsville couple. He vowed to appeal the ruling.
Dottore and Celebrezze are both at the center of an FBI investigation, which started after The Marshall Project – Cleveland began investigating their relationship in 2023. Celebrezze has admitted to assigning lucrative cases to Dottore. She approved nearly $500,000 in fees for his company, Dottore Cos. LLC, between January 2017 and June 2023, The Marshall Project – Cleveland reported.
Caligiuri’s terse filing criticizes Celebrezze for how she behaved both as a longtime judge and during his investigation.
“During the hearing, respondent — a sitting judge — invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in response to (the disciplinary counsel’s) limited questions, thus ending any inquiry into her conduct,” Caligiuri wrote.
Celebrezze was captured on video by a private investigator after spending hours at Dottore’s home and office on workdays. The private investigator also recorded them kissing outside a restaurant. She also spent over 300 hours talking on the phone with Dottore in one year, Caligiuri wrote.
Celebrezze has admitted in court papers to being in love with Dottore, but both have denied a romantic relationship. Celebrezze is playing the victim, Caligiuri wrote.
Caligiuri said that it was reasonable for people to conclude, “based on the intimate kiss, the undisclosed daytime encounters at Dottore’s home, and the undisclosed nighttime encounters over drinks, that the two were engaged in a sexual relationship.”
In urging the board to suspend Celebrezze, Caligiuri cited a previous case involving a judge and quoted, “The primary purpose of judicial discipline is to protect the public, (and) guarantee the evenhanded administration of justice.”
“There is simply no place in our justice system for dishonest judges,” he wrote. “Such dishonesty has a profound impact on the public’s perception of our judiciary.”
This article was first published by The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for their newsletters, and follow them on Instagram, TikTok, Reddit and Facebook.
This article appears in Cleveland SCENE 06/19/25 Burger Week.