Jimmy Dimora to receive new sentence after judge throws out two corruption charges

Former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora will be resentenced on his 2012 corruption conviction after a federal judge tossed out two of the 32 charges against him Monday.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi comes after the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered her to revisit her jury instructions in light of a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision that narrowed the definition of bribery.

In 2012, a jury convicted the Democratic commissioner of wielding his influence within county government to benefit allies in exchange for bribes that came in such forms as dinners, home improvements and a trip to Las Vegas. In August that year, Dimora was sentenced to 28 years in prison.

Dimora’s attorneys have been contesting the conviction ever since.

The Supreme Court’s 2016 decision in McDonnell v. United States has offered Dimora one avenue for appeal. In that decision, the court ruled that setting up meetings and phone calls do not constitute “official acts” in the federal bribery statute.

In her decision issued Monday, Lioi ruled that most of the charges against Dimora still involved casting votes in favor of projects or exerting pressure on other government officials.

But the judge threw out two charges that centered on help given to a businessman who did free work expanding Dimora’s outdoor kitchen and building a retaining wall.

In those instances, Lioi ruled that some of the actions Dimora took – recommending the businessman’s daughter for a job and providing a status update on a county project – were no longer considered “official acts.”

Lioi has scheduled a resentencing hearing for Dimora on June 8.

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