Subpoena Targets Judge Leslie Celebrezze, Dottore Personal Texts

Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze Credit: Gus Chan for The Marshall Project – Cleveland

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A lawsuit filed in September against Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze continues to raise questions about the judge’s relationship with her longtime friend and court-appointed receiver, Mark Dottore.
Subpoenas recently filed in the lawsuit brought by Georgeanna Semary, Celebrezze’s former judicial assistant, seek text messages that, according to court records, Celebrezze sent to Dottore in 2008, saying: “You need to make love to me this week. I feel safe when I am in your arms.” Another subpoena seeks records from a downtown Cleveland hotel that purportedly show Dottore and Celebrezze shared a room on multiple dates in 2018 and 2019.

A response to the subpoenas filed by Dottore’s attorney says the filings should not be visible on the public court docket and calls them “unacceptable” and an “attempt to harass a judge and a prominent local businessman.”

Semary, who worked for Celebrezze since 2009, contends in her lawsuit that she was transferred out of the judge’s office in April and forced to take a $20,000 pay cut after she allowed The Marshall Project – Cleveland to review public court records involving Dottore.

Celebrezze, who serves as the court’s administrative judge through December, has previously denied an intimate relationship with Dottore, telling The Marshall Project – Cleveland that she and Dottore are merely close, lifelong friends.

In August, the Ohio Supreme Court removed Celebrezze from overseeing a Strongsville couple’s divorce, finding the judge bypassed court policy when she assigned the lucrative case to her own docket. Dottore’s office has subsequently billed over $500,000 for legal and other work.

Overall, Dottore has been paid at least another $500,000 in fees since 2017 while working as a court-appointed receiver in divorce cases in Celebrezze’s courtroom. He has not worked on cases in the courtrooms of some of the other judges in Domestic Relations Court.
In the wake of The Marshall Project – Cleveland’s reporting, people connected to the Strongsville divorce case, as well as Semary and others, have been questioned by FBI agents about the judge’s conduct. FBI agents traditionally do not comment on, or acknowledge, ongoing investigations. Celebrezze and Dottore have denied any wrongdoing.

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