ELYRIA — The defense attorney in the corruption trial of former Lorain County Commissioner Michael Ross yesterday portrayed the trial as public relations grandstanding by prosecutors. He also said it reflected negatively on Ross’ status as the first and only black person to be elected commissioner in Lorain County. That prompted a prosecutor to tell jurors, “I don’t care if he is black, blue or polka-dotted; thievery is thievery. We have a paper trail Hansel and Gretel can follow.” The case went to the jury at midday yesterday and jurors are scheduled to resume deliberations this morning. Ross is on trial for 22 counts of corrupt activity. Yesterday, Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Dave Muhek explained to the jury exactly what Ross is being charged with and the details of transactions with his secret business partner Larry Jones regarding the construction of the Lorain County Justice Center and other matters. Muhek said Ross deposited 13 checks into either his lawyer trust account or his side business account from Larry Jones, which were mostly from Jones’ now-bankrupt Erie Shores Computer company account, totaling roughly $470,000. “Larry Jones took copious notes; what we have here is a virtual diary of how it happened,” Muhek said. “It would be better if we had a videotape of people dropping bags of money on Commissioner Ross’ desk, but we don’t have that.” Defense attorney Michael Nelson told jurors, “This case should be about justice, but I’m not sure that’s what it’s about.” Nelson said the trial is nothing more than the prosecution’s attempt to charge a public official. “This trial is about an alleged conspiracy, but when putting this in proper context, it really means they want this man’s hide,” Nelson said of Ross. “It is a good career move if you can prosecute a public official. The defense gets in the newspaper and the prosecution gets the public relations.” Nelson said the issue of Ross passing eight resolutions in favor of Jones’ computer company while he was a commissioner does not implicate him in any wrongdoings. And he said the construction contracts for the Justice Center went to the architecture firms that were ranked top three, and therefore it made sense for Ross to approve them — which he did without dispute from the commissioners’ legal counsel, Gerald Innes. Nelson said not one architect connected to the Justice Center project could testify Ross was directly involved in wrongdoing. Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Anthony Cillo said Ross voted on resolutions that would benefit him and he received money for them later, which constitutes as a bribe. Cillo added Ross shouldn’t have voted in the first place because Jones was a business partner and that presented a conflict of interest, a fact confirmed by Innes on the witness stand. Cillo added because Innes testified Ross asked him to be absent from closed-door commission meetings, Ross could exercise his power on the other commissioners without disagreement. “He got to garner as much power as he wanted by thinking ‘I’m in the room with the baker and the clerk; they’ll listen to me,'” Cillo said, referring to former Commissioner Mari Jo Vasi, who owned a bakery, and current Commissioner Betty Blair, who was previously a township clerk. Nelson said Ross was the first and only black man to be elected to the county commission, and this trial is a poor reflection of that “seminal event.” Cillo told the jury the Ross case is not a feather in his cap as Nelson inferred, and race is not an issue. Nelson said the elements in the case should show the jurors the evidence requirements had not been met by prosecution because no clear lines could be drawn to Ross, and the jury should weigh those factors when giving their decision. Cillo said prosecutors did present sufficient evidence and Ross abused power as county commissioner. “This isn’t a witch hunt; this is a travesty,” Cillo said to the jury. “The travesty is the defendant took a position of trust to line his own pockets, and he asked you to ignore that.”
