Ex-Cleveland councilman Joe Cimperman agrees to plead to ethics charges

CLEVELAND >> A former Cleveland city councilman facing multiple misdemeanor ethics charges for voting on contracts involving a company he had close ties with has agreed to plead to guilty during a court hearing.

Cleveland.com reports an attorney for Joe Cimperman and a lawyer for the Ohio Auditor’s Office outlined a plea bargain Friday in a Cleveland courtroom that would call for a $10,000 fine. Cimperman was charged by information Wednesday with 26 counts of having an unlawful interest in a public contract.

The case has been assigned to a judge who will decide whether to accept the deal.

An investigation by the state Auditor’s Office focused on city contracts and grants made to a company where Cimperman had been a board member and where his wife worked as a project manager.