Key witness against P.G. Sittenfeld cooperated after facing campaign finance charges

The vital witness in the corruption cases versus previous Cincinnati town councilmen P.G. Sittenfeld and Jeff Pastor labored with the FBI as he confronted possible expenses for marketing campaign finance law violations and “other possible federal crimes,” Sittenfeld’s lawyers say in newly filed files.

Federal prosecutors have previously said area developer and former Cincinnati Bengal Chinedum Ndukwe cooperated in the conditions versus Pastor and Sittenfeld for the reason that he was “sick and tired” of metropolis officials seeking dollars in trade for enable on improvement deals.

Sittenfeld’s demo is scheduled to get started June 21 in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.

An lawyer for Ndukwe, Scott Croswell, explained to The Enquirer that at the time Ndukwe agreed to cooperate in the investigation, “he did not encounter marketing campaign finance legislation violations or any other federal crimes.”

“The evidence will occur out at demo,” Croswell stated.

Sittenfeld’s attorneys, he included, were making use of the pretrial submitting to “spin the information to their very best benefit.”

The new details came in a demo temporary Sittenfeld’s attorneys submitted late Tuesday. U.S. District Choose Douglas Cole has requested both of those sides to supply context to the complicated case as he prepares to rule on a multitude of problems right before the trial.

The briefs had been not owing until May 27, and federal prosecutors are nevertheless expected to file one. Sittenfeld’s transient is centered on discovery involving his lawyers and prosecutors — which is not still public record but some of which has been explained in pretrial filings.

Proffer arrangement

The 30-webpage brief presents new insight into Ndukwe’s function in the investigation.

In accordance to Sittenfeld’s attorneys, Ndukwe himself entered into a written “proffer” settlement with federal prosecutors simply because he faced probable fees. That settlement, according to the documents, prohibits prosecutors from utilizing anything Ndukwe instructed investigators, if expenses are in the long run submitted versus him.

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The documents say Ndukwe started “working for the government” in March 2018, right after an investigation “revealed his involvement in marketing campaign finance law violations…and an assortment of other potential federal crimes.”

Sittenfeld’s lawyers also say in the files that the FBI “began having to pay Mr. Ndukwe to focus on community officials.”

Previous U.S. Legal professional David DeVillers told The Enquirer in late 2020 that Ndukwe was “sick and drained of having to do this, this shell out-to-play…so he decided to do the job with us.”

Sittenfeld and Ndukwe had identified just about every other for practically a decade when the investigation started. Court docket files say their marriage “evolved into a friendship” that integrated discussions of family and sharing photographs of their newborn kids.

Ndukwe also was one of Sittenfeld’s most dependable and enthusiastic campaign donors, the documents say. Involving 2012 and 2017, Ndukwe and his loved ones customers donated more than $10,000 to Sittenfeld’s city council campaigns.

What follows in the paperwork are specifics that have previously been shared with the public. Ndukwe, in October 2018, named Sittenfeld and explained to him he experienced out-of-town buyers intrigued in redeveloping 435 Elm St., a blighted Downtown house that Ndukwe hoped to convert into a lodge with a athletics-betting procedure.

The out-of-town developers have been actually undercover federal agents. More than the up coming two yrs, there were being cell phone phone calls, conferences, parties in penthouse flats and campaign contributions. This is in which the two sides diverge.

Prosecutors say Sittenfeld recognized income in trade for favorable votes on the undertaking. He faces expenses of bribery, straightforward providers wire fraud and attempted extortion.

Sittenfeld’s attorneys say there was absolutely nothing unlawful about the donations.

‘Case entails politics’

“This circumstance involves politics and campaigning in The united states. And no matter if we like it or not, office environment holders may request and acknowledge campaign contributions when generating choices on votes and laws — all of which is authorized and basic to our agent type of government,” his attorneys say in the transient.

An attorney for Sittenfeld declined to remark.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated “the govt will current its evidence at demo.”

Pastor faces individual corruption rates. His demo had been set to start off this thirty day period but was delayed indefinitely following his legal professional, Ben Dusing, disqualified himself just after getting his legislation license suspended.

Sittenfeld was indicted in November 2020, which led to him staying suspended from town council and in the long run derailed his political job. Sittenfeld was a soaring political star and the frontrunner to be elected mayor in 2021.

This article at first appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Brief: Important witness from Sittenfeld faces marketing campaign finance prices