Nine count Information filed against Steve Pumper.
Read the Information filed against Steven Pumper
DAS President Jeff Troxell talks with WTAM's Carmen Angelo
(Cleveland) - The latest charges in the Cuyahoga County political corruption probe are against the former employee of a local construction company.
A nine-count Information was filed Wednesday charging former DAS Construction Company Chief Executive Officer Steven Wayne Pumper.
This Information follows the guilty pleas of J. Kevin Kelley, Kevin F. Payne, Daniel P. Gallagher, and Brian Schuman to charges of bribery, fraud, obstruction and other federal offenses. They await sentencing.
The Information charges Pumper with participating in four bribery schemes and one fraud scheme. It also charges Pumper with two counts of obstructing the grand jury investigation, one count of making a false statement to law enforcement and one count of structuring financial transactions.
A statement by Pumper, released o WTAM through his attorney, says,
“I accept full and sole responsibility for my actions, and I apologize to my business associates and former employees, to my friends, and most especially to the members of my family for the pain and embarrassment I have caused them. I am truly and deeply sorry for having disappointed them and for subjecting them to unwarranted scrutiny and suspicion.”
“I cannot change the things that I’ve done or undo the mistakes I’ve made, but I’m willing to accept personal accountability for those actions and to accept the consequences.”
“I hope that those who have known me all these years will accept my apology and find it in their hearts to forgive me.” According to the Information, Pumper bribed public officials in the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, the Parma City School District and an unidentified school district.
Kevin Kelley, former President of the Parma School Board has pleaded guilty to receiving one of the bribes charged in the Pumper information.
In the Information, "Public Official 1" is not identified by name. But the job description matches Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, whose home and offices were searched in July of 2008.
According to the Information, PO1 had a number of things done at his home by DAS and was never billed. PO1 was also provided with Cavaliers and Indians tickets. PO1 then helped DAS get construction projects, financial considerations and even with Pumper's divorce.
A day after being interviewed by the FBI, the Information alleges that Pumper "removed the hard drive from his office computer and placed it in a dumpster. On the same date, Pumper removed the hard drive from his home computer and threw it into Lake Erie."
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ann C. Rowland and Antoinette T. Bacon, following investigation by the Cleveland office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service.
DAS Construction is based in Garfield Heights. Pumper is no longer with the company. In an interview with Newsradio WTAM 1100, President Jeff Troxell says that Pumper was a business development director. Troxell says DAS is cooperating fully with the federal investigation.
Troxell adds that he wants the public to know that DAS Construction itself is
not a traget of the investigation. He says they are a strong company and remain in business.
The federal investigation is ongoing.
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