CLEVELAND—An assistant county prosecutor from the Toledo area has been tapped to prosecute a criminal complaint against Cleveland Fire Chief Angelo Calvillo.
Frank H. Spryszak, a deputy chief criminal prosecutor in Lucas County, contacted the city of Cleveland and an attorney for Cleveland’s firefighters union Tuesday seeking files from the case.
Cleveland.com was unable to reach Spryszak on Thursday for comment.
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Joseph Diemert, the lawyer for the Association of Cleveland Fire Fighters, filed the complaint in Cleveland Municipal Court in August. It alleges that Calvillo should be prosecuted for violating terms of Cleveland’s City Charter.
The union alleges that Calvillo violated prohibitions against civil service workers engaging in political activity. The charter provides that violating that prohibition is a misdemeanor crime punishable by fine, jail time and forfeiture of employment.
Calvillo acknowledged during a deposition in late 2017 that earlier that year he had helped Mayor Frank Jackson’s re-election campaign by gathering signatures needed on nominating petitions to get the mayor on the ballot.
The union contends that violated the charter’s prohibition. It also filed suit in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court asking that a judge order the city to uphold terms of the charter and fire the chief.
Law Director Barbara Langhenry has disputed the union’s legal analysis, saying the chief’s actions didn’t violate the prohibitions contained in the charter.
Judge S. Dwight Osterud, a retired municipal judge from Perrysburg, was appointed by Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor to hear the case. He ordered the court to appoint an outside prosecutor from a county not adjacent to Cuyahoga County to handle the prosecution.
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