CLEVELAND — Former East Cleveland Police Chief Scott Gardner decided to end his bench trial for alleged financial crimes on Tuesday by entering into a plea deal with prosecutors.
Gardner pleaded guilty to one felony count of collecting and failing to remit. He was also ordered to pay just under $150,000 in restitution. Gardner will be back in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court for sentencing on March 21.
The 49-year-old Gardner was indicted on the following charges in the case:
- One count of aggravated theft
- One count of telecommunications fraud
- Six counts of collecting and failing to remit
- Six counts of fraudulent actions concerning a tax return
- One count of tampering with records
- Three counts of passing bad checks
- Two counts of money laundering
- Two counts of theft in office
- Two counts of grand theft
As a result of his plea arrangement, all other counts against him have been dismissed.
The charges stem from a yearslong investigation into his tax filings and financial decisions from 2014 to 2019 as chief of the East Cleveland Police Department and president of CPACS—a security services company that he still owns and runs.
On the first day of the bench trial, Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Samantha Sohl argued Gardner “grossly underreported” his earnings from his business, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars less in taxes over the years before hiring an accountant and tax attorney to assist in filing amended sales tax filings during the state’s investigation.
Sohl also alleged Gardner committed theft and laundered money that should have gone to the East Cleveland Police Department and its officers. She said instead of going to police, the money went into Gardner's business and to support his “lavish lifestyle.”
“The money was used to pay American Express bills and you’ll see what those American Express bills were for. I submit to you they’re not related at all to the defendant’s business as the East Cleveland police chief. He’s going to dinner. He’s going to the Caribbean, He’s going on trips,” she said.
Gardner's attorney, Allison Hibbard, admitted her client was a "terrible businessman."
“He did certainly provide good services; however, his record-keeping is terrible, his spending is irresponsible at times. Frankly he co-mingled funds is what we did. But what he didn’t do is commit crimes. He had no criminal intent. Not even recklessness with regard to the sales tax filings and you will hear evidence that when he understood he had a problem with his filings, he retained a tax attorney, and re-did the filings,” she added.