Jimmy Slemboski

The lawyer representing County Commissioner Jimmy Slemboski against corruption-related charges
has been granted permission to quit the case because he has been paid only a fraction of what
Slemboski owes.
Richard Lillie's request to be removed as Jimmy Slemboski's lawyer was approved this morning during
a pre-trial hearing in U.S. District Court. He had made the request earlier in the fall.
Lillie told Judge Kathleen O'Malley that Slemboski has only recently paid him $1,000 and owes him
tens of thousands. Slemboski told WKYC today he expects his defense to eventually cost hundreds of
thousands of dollars.
The judge granted the request and ruled that Slemboski doesn't qualify for a taxpayer-funded defense.
She repeatedly warned him to do more to pay an attorney from his assets.
"I have examined your finances," the judge told Slemboski in court. "It's not a question of affording a
lawyer, but whether you choose to pay for one."
O'Malley gave Slemboski until Jan. 12 to either pay Lillie, find another lawyer, or represent himself in
court.
"I can't be reponsible for him if he can't represent himself," she said of Slemboski.
"I specifically told you to go to more than one bank to find a loan," Judge O'Malley told Slemboski,
who has refused to resign and is still on the public payroll.
"Mr. Lillie has the right not to work for free."
The court said Slemboski has $40,000 to $50,000 in liquid assets, and asked him why he has not cashed
in an insurance policy or assets from a stock club.
"I still believe Park View Federal will give me my loan," Slemboski replied. "I can do this by the end of
the year."
Slemboski claims a loan officer has told him that his request for a loan for 70 percent of the value of
his $435,000 home should be approved. He said the hang-up is a discrepency in the square footage of
his house.
"If they don't give me the loan, I'm in a predicament," Slemboski told both the court and WKYC after
the hearing.
O'Malley lectured Slemboski in the courtroom.
"How long do you think it's right to ask Mr. Lillie to be your indentured servant?" she said. "How can
you have optimism? Mr. Slemboski, you have few options. I'm not sure other counsel would take your
case because of the way you have treated Mr. Lillie."
Slemboski said the issue might be resolved by Dec. 31 with his pending application for a loan against
his mortgage-free home.

Slemboski, also the former Cuyahoga County Democratic Party chairman, pleaded not guilty to 26
charges in September.