CLEVELAND — As the trial of two former East Cleveland police officers began Wednesday, a disturbing picture of the depth of corruption inside the city emerged.
“There is the right way, there is the wrong way, and there is the East Cleveland way,” said Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Gregory Mussman. “That’s when you know what you’re doing is wrong, but you don’t think you’ll get caught.”
Former police officers Von Harris and Demarkco Johnson face trial on 16 counts, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, conspiracy, bribery, forgery and fraud.
Investigators said the pair accepted hundreds of dollars from an undercover FBI informant in exchange for falsified police reports during the Summer of 2018.
On Wednesday, that informant, George Michael Riley, took the witness stand as state’s witness, testifying he routinely paid East Cleveland officials.
“That’s just normal business in East Cleveland,” said Riley.
He testified that as he paid up, the more city demolition jobs Riley won and the more city employees wanted.
“I mean, it would be for food, or that one girl wanted to go to Vegas, and there was for kids,” said Riley. “There was always something.”
But Riley ran into trouble in 2017 when a fire broke out at the Arco Recycling Plant in East Cleveland.
Investigators said Riley illegally operated the landfill.
Facing a legal mess and $30 million in fines, penalties and clean-up, Riley went to the feds, offering details of spreading cash to a laundry list of East Cleveland city officials.
That’s when defense attorneys said Riley and federal agents devised a plan.
“Mike Riley put this entire scheme together to get his ass out of the ringer,” said attorney John Paris who represents Harris.
In court Monday, prosecutors played hours of recorded phone conversations and video showing Riley, Harris and Johnson.
Jurors were also shown copies of the police reports that prosecutors said were falsified and given to Riley.
Johnson’s attorney said the whole case was manufactured by the FBI because Riley, “a con man,” needed an out.
“We have the FBI handling Mike Riley, Mike Riley tricking Von Harris, Von Harris tricking Demarkco,” said attorney Allison Hibbard. “That’s what’s going on here.”
But prosecutors insisted this is a case about corrupt cops, even in a city where different public officials had their hands out.
“This is not the Wild West,” said Mussman. “There are people in East Cleveland that deserve dignity and to uphold the law. And ladies and gentlemen, you’re going to get one slice of just how corrupt this is,” Mussman told jurors.
Prosecutors said the investigation into corruption in East Cleveland continues.
