Crime & Safety
Mayfield Heights Mayor Gregory Costabile Pleads Guilty, Is Sentenced For Ethics Violations
Costabile has previously stated his intention to resign as mayor this Friday
Soon-to-be-departing Mayfield Heights Mayor Greg Costabile pleaded guilty Tuesday in Franklin Municipal Court to a pair of misdemeanor counts of failing to publicly disclose financial information to the Ohio Ethics Commission, according to The News-Herald.
The judge sentenced Costabile to 180 days in jail -- though those days were suspended, so he can avoid jail time if he stays out of further legal trouble -- fined him $1,000 and gave him a year of probation.
WKYC Channel 3 reported that criminal complaint forms filed in Franklin County Municipal Court show Costabile did not disclose income of $15,000 he received in 2010 from Seagull Development, a gas drilling company that does business with the city. The $15,000 was three times more than what his neighbors received for drilling rights on their properties.
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The other complaint showed he failed to disclose $100,000 of income from developer Hidden Woods LLC in 2005 for a portion of his property on Ridgebury Boulevard. That company also does business with the city.
State ethics laws require elected officials disclose receiving money from companies that do business with the city.
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Costabile is expected to plead guilty to the charges Jan. 29 before Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Paul Herbert. Mayfield Heights Law Director Leonard Carr told Sun News that Costabile will pay $15,000 to the Ohio Ethics Commission and between $6,000 and $7,000 to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office for its investigation.
The case is in Franklin County because the Ohio Ethics Commission is under the jurisdiction of the Franklin County court.
Carr told WKYC that Costabile resigned as part of the plea agreement with Cuyahoga County prosecutors. Costabile had been under investigation for two years.
Costabile, 46, who has been mayor for seven years, announced on Jan. 17 that he was resigning effective Feb. 1 to spend more time with his family and his law practice. Council President Anthony DiCicco will fill the unexpired term.
Costabile has also served as the city’s first volunteer juvenile magistrate, as a councilman, and as city council president for nearly 15 years.
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