Contractor used Jimmy Dimora to ‘make things happen quickly,’ planned kickbacks to Dimora

AKRON, Ohio - The federal government’s star witness, contractor Steven Pumper, said he used former county commissioner Jimmy Dimora to "make things happen quickly" and planned to give Dimora kickbacks on county contracts through a Dimora intermediary and co-defendant Michael Gabor.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Antoinette Bacon walked Pumper through a series of wiretap calls and transcripts in which Pumper described how Dimora and Gabor used their influence in an effort to get Pumper’s company products written into contract specifications for the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Justice Center and other projects. Pumper was the chief executive for Green-Source, a company selling wall and roof panels that reduced heating and cooling costs in buildings.

Pumper said Dimora provided him with access to Adrian Maldonado, the county’s now-retired purchasing director, with the expectation that Dimora, Pumper and Gabor could influence Maldonado’s control over several specifications in the county juvenile justice center bid.

Jurors were told of a March 12, 2008 lunch meeting at Delmonico’s Steakhouse in Independence attended by Dimora, Gabor, Pumper, Maldonado and Jason Camorney, a sales representative with Green-Source. Dimora said Green-Source was a good product and Maldonado needed to go to the plant to look over the product.

Prosecutors also played a wiretap conversation in which Dimora told Maldonado about the benefits of the Green-Source product for the environment and cost savings for the county. Maldonado has not been charged in the federal corruption investigation.

“What is Dimora going to get out of the sale of Green-Source products on the Juvenile Justice Center project?” prosecutor Bacon asked Pumper.

“Mr. Gabor was going to provide to Mr. Dimora a percentage of profit on that,” Pumper testified.

Pumper also testified the kickbacks would be provided to Dimora through defendant Michael Gabor, who Pumper would put on Green-Source’s payroll as a salesperson.

“Mr. Dimora, with his influence, was able to make calls throughout the county to make things happen quickly. He was going to do what he had to do to help us out and help Michael out at the same time,” Pumper told jurors in describing Dimora as his “friend” and explaining how Dimora helped Pumper’s company and Gabor at the same time.

Jurors heard a wiretap in which Gabor told Pumper of a potential opportunity to get Green-Source products into a new recreation center planned for the City of Broadview Heights where Gabor’s brother-in-law, Sam Alai, was mayor. Alai has not been charged in the federal corruption case and Gabor told Pumper he never told Alai about the discussion.

“I’m talking to my brother-in-law. They’re building a rec center,” Gabor told Pumper.

“On just your end…you’ll probably put in your pocket two, two fifty,” explaining to Gabor his sales commission could be up to $250,000 off a contract for the Broadview Heights rec center project. “250 thousand?” Gabor asked struck with awe.

Jurors also heard a wiretap conversation over 12 minutes long in which Gabor appeared to struggle to understand his salary and commission as a salesperson with Green-Source while he was also on the county payroll.

“Now you just made 80 grand a year and you’re not doin’ shit,” Pumper told Gabor in trying to explain how his pay arrangement would work. “We have to create base salary for you so you have some income coming in.”

Gabor did not understand how he was going to get paid by Green-Source, asking Pumper questions about the benefits of having a flat salary versus a commission. Pumper explained it was to Gabor’s benefit for Gabor to have a base salary and then a commission on the net profit made by the company on each project.

At one point in the conversation, Pumper referenced a project of 80,000 square feet.

“Is that a lot?” Gabor asked. “I know what I’m doing in the deli you understand,” Gabor told Pumper, referencing his experience in the family deli business, but noting he had no experience in the construction business.

Prosecutor Bacon also asked Pumper if Green-Source gained an advantage by knowing the architects and locations of potential county projects. She had played wiretap conversations in which Pumper spoke with Dimora about the potential locations for an eastside family service center.

“We’re able to pitch the product to the architect and if he likes it we could spec it into the building and they’d buy it,” Pumper said, telling jurors that Gabor would get a commission from Green-Source on contracts received by the company.

Once the FBI raids of county offices occurred in 2008, Pumper said progress on getting his company's products into the juvenile detention facility construction was halted.

"The FBI raids put everybody in the spotlight" and people backed off of companies involved, Pumper said.

Prosecutor Bacon also walked Pumper through a separate scheme first introduced on Monday. Prosecutors said Dimora interceded with then-county judge Bridget McCaffertry to