(CLEVELAND, Ohio) — Kenneth Mills, the former director of the Cuyahoga County Regional Jail, was sentenced to 9 months in jail, the maximum possible for his mismanagement of the facility, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced today.
“As a prisoner himself, the defendant will learn what it really means to depend on the public servants charged to manage jails,” Yost said. “Prosecutors Matt Meyer, Dan Kasaris and Linda Powers from my office – aided by investigators with the FBI, Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department and Cleveland Division of Police – did a masterful job of navigating the case and fighting to restore justice.”
Mills was found guilty on Sept. 10 of two counts of falsification, both first-degree misdemeanors, and two counts of dereliction of duty, both second-degree misdemeanors. Retired Summit County Common Pleas Judge Patricia Cosgrove issued his sentence.
Under Mill’s administration, the Cuyahoga County Regional Jail failed to safely, securely and lawfully house Cuyahoga County inmates. The issues at the jail were compounded by Mill’s false statements and caused inmates to suffer unbearable conditions amid overcrowding.
Mills is among 10 Cuyahoga County jail employees criminally charged for acts hurting inmates. Each of these cases was prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions Section of the Attorney General’s Office:
- 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 attempted felonious assault and tampering with evidence.
- Timothy Dugan, a former corrections officer, was sentenced to 10 days in jail after pleading guilty to attempted abduction and 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.
