(CLEVELAND, Ohio) — In the most recent trial stemming from years-old allegations of widespread misconduct at the Cuyahoga County Regional Jail, former jail Director Kenneth Mills has been found guilty, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced today.
“Under Mills’ watch, drugs flowed freely and medical care did not. Inmates were attacked by corrections officers,” Yost said. “With this conviction, Mills can think about his own potential time behind bars – and hope that it will run better than the hellhole he ran for Cuyahoga County.”
Mills oversaw a jail that was short-staffed, overcrowded and could not meet the basic needs of inmates. Eight inmates died at the facility during the second half of 2018.
Following a two-week trial that ended Thursday, the jury today found Mills guilty of two counts of falsification, both first-degree misdemeanors and two counts of dereliction of duty, both second-degree misdemeanors.
Mills will be sentenced on Friday, Oct. 8 at 11:00 a.m. in the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
The trial, prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions Section of the Attorney General’s Office caps an investigation that unveiled numerous criminal acts inside the jail. Mills is among 10 Cuyahoga County jail employees criminally charged for negligent acts against inmates.
In the other cases, also prosecuted by the AGO’s Special Prosecutions Section:
- Emily McNeeley, a former Cuyahoga County information technology administrator, pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing official business and three counts of dereliction of duty. McNeely’s sentence of six months in jail was suspended upon completion of four years of probation.
- Martin Devring, a former corrections officer, was sentenced to 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to tampering with records and dereliction of duty related to the death of an inmate.
- Stephen Thomas, a former corrections officer, was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of felony bribery, theft in office and illegal conveyance of a telecommunications device into the jail.
- Marvella Sullivan, a former corrections officer, was sentenced to 60 days in jail and community service after pleading guilty to attempted bribery and drug trafficking.
- Idris-Farid Clark, a former corrections officer, was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to attempted felonious assault, extortion and unlawful restraint.
- Robert Marsh, a former corrections officer, was sentenced to 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to assault.
- Nicholas Evans, a former corrections officer, was sentenced to nine months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of attempted felonious assault and one count of tampering with evidence.
- Timothy Dugan, a former corrections officer, was sentenced to 10 days in jail after pleading guilty to one count of attempted abduction and one count of assault.
- Eric Ivey, the former jail warden, pleaded guilty to obstructing justice and falsification, resigned from his position of Associate Warden and was sentenced to community control.
- John Wilson, a former corrections officer, was sentenced to three years of probation after pleading guilty to assault.
- Lamar Speights, a former inmate at the jail, was sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to bribery, money laundering and illegal conveyance of drugs into the detention facility.
- Alexander Foster, a former jail inmate, was sentenced to 18 months of community control after pleading guilty to bribery and obstructing justice.
The cases were investigated by the FBI, Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department and the Cleveland Division of Police.
