CINCINNATI — Former Cincinnati City Councilman Jeff Pastor pleaded guilty on Wednesday to taking a $15,000 bribe as a monthly “retainer” for his help on development projects.
Pastor, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of honest services wire fraud, in a deal that guarantees he will not spend more than two years in prison, and allows him to argue for probation with no time spent behind bars.
U.S. District Court Judge Matthew McFarland commended Pastor for accepting responsibility. But in a rare move, he declined to accept the plea deal, because he said he needs to know a little more about Pastor first. He deferred his decision until after the pre-sentence report is finished, which generally take three months.
Pastor and his attorney, federal public defender Karen Savir, declined comment as they left the federal courthouse surrounded by the media.
Voters elected Pastor as a newcomer Republican to City Council in November 2017. Six months after he took office, FBI agents say he began soliciting bribes in exchange for official action on two development projects.
Undercover FBI agents descended on City Hall in 2018 and 2019, posing as wealthy out-of-town developers. In 2020 they arrested three council members, including Pastor, in separate corruption schemes.
FBI agents arrested Pastor at his home in the early morning hours of Nov. 10, 2020. In addition to wire fraud, a federal grand jury charged Pastor with bribery, attempted extortion, money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was accused of taking $55,000 in bribes, and a luxury weekend trip to Miami on a private plane, in exchange for votes on two development deals.
In the plea deal, Pastor only admits to taking a $15,000 bribe in October 2018 but he continued to ask for more money afterward. Legal experts say this reduced bribe amount will likely cut Pastor's potential prison exposure by months or even years.
He now likely faces 18 months in prison, which is the same sentence U.S. District Court Judge Susan Dlott gave to former councilperson Tamaya Dennard in November 2020 after she pleaded guilty to the same charge as Pastor, and admitted taking $15,000 in bribe money which she then had to repay.
At the 40-minute hearing on Wednesday, the judge told Pastor, “this is a very important day in your life,” and proceeded to explain details of the court process before Pastor formally changed his plea to guilty.
At one point, Savir slid a box of tissues across the table to Pastor who took several from the box after he momentarily stumbled while answering questions about his life and education with two master’s degrees.
When David DeVillers, then-U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, announced Pastor's indictment he referred to a "culture of corruption" in the city. The FBI had already arrested then-council president pro tem Dennard months before.
P.G. Sittenfield was arrested one week after Pastor, with a jury convicting him of bribery and attempted extortion last July. No sentencing date has been set.
Pastor kept a low profile following the indictment, relying on his attorney Ben Dusing to do the talking, suggesting the FBI targeted his client because of his youth, political inexperience and naivete. Pastor was then forced to find a new attorney when Dusing was temporarily suspended from practicing law in 2020.
Pastor's co-defendant, Tyran Marshall, has not changed his plea and is awaiting trial. Marshall allegedly acted as a middleman in receiving bribes, and Pastor used Marshall’s nonprofit, Ummah Strength, LLC to “sanitize” money, according to the indictment.
Pastor and Marshall flew to Miami in September 2018 on a private plane to meet with investors, who were actually FBI agents. Pastor never paid for or disclosed the trip, according to the indictment.
