Judge sentences ex-Cincinnati Councilman Jeff Pastor to two years in prison

Former Cincinnati City Councilman Jeff Pastor was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison for a bribery scheme that involved accepting $55,000 in exchange for votes.

U.S. District Judge Matthew McFarland handed down a sentence in federal court in Cincinnati that matched what prosecutors sought. Pastor's federal public defender had asked for a prison term of 12 months and a day.

Pastor, 40, of North Avondale, is the last of the three former council members to be sentenced for corruption connected to their time on the city council. All three were indicted in 2020. Pastor's sentence is the most severe, eight months longer than what P.G. Sittenfeld received and six months longer than the sentence imposed against Tamaya Dennard.

McFarland repeatedly referred to Pastor's crimes as "a scheme of greed," said he had worked for individuals instead of the citizens who elected him − and involved his friend in the scheme who created a nonprofit to "sanitize" the bribe payments.

"Your conduct in this case was appalling," McFarland said.

Pastor's crimes differed from what Sittenfeld and Dennard had done, McFarland said. He compared Pastor to former Ohio House speaker Larry Householder, who led the largest bribery scheme in state history.

Like Householder, McFarland said Pastor recruited others to further his scheme. Pastor's friend, Tyran Marshall, pleaded guilty to money laundering and "is now a convicted felon," the judge said.

Prosecutors say Pastor received $55,000 over five different occasions in exchange for favorable votes on two development projects in the city. He began soliciting bribes within months of taking office in 2018, prosecutors said.

Judge mentions 'lavish dinners' and strip club

Pastor's conduct involved flying to Miami, Florida, on a private jet, a trip he didn't pay for or disclose. Prosecutors said he also asked an undercover FBI agent posing as a developer for a $115,000 salary to "get the best out of him" and that he or Marshall, sought a monthly "retainer," “seed money,” “points on the deal,” or “the little twenty."

McFarland said that during the two days Pastor spent in Florida, he enjoyed "lavish dinners" and even went to a strip club.

The more Pastor received, the more he wanted, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Singer said.

"His energy and focus was primarily on himself, not service," Singer told the judge. "Perhaps the most troubling … is it was rooted in the expectation that he deserved money."

Pastor's federal public defender, Karen Savir, spent about an hour pleading for the lesser sentence, using data that compared Pastor's case to other bribery cases nationwide, as well as to the cases against Sittenfeld and Dennard.

All three Cincinnati council members, Savir said, "were equally culpable."

And unlike Sittenfeld, who took his case to trial, Pastor had accepted responsibility, she said.

Pastor: 'No one else to blame'

Pastor pleaded guilty in June to a corruption charge. In court Thursday, he told the judge that he regrets what he did.

“There is no one else to blame. I stand here for myself," he said.

He apologized to the city and taxpayers, and wiped tears from his eyes when a letter from his wife was read aloud.

In a letter Pastor wrote to McFarland, which was filed Wednesday in the case, Pastor said his arrest propelled him "on a journey to better myself, to face my fears, repent for my shortcomings and my poor decision-making."

He called the case against him "a wake-up call." Without it, he said he'd be "an empty person, aching and hurting on the inside." About the criminal case, he said: "This was fated."

What happened in other corruption cases

Pastor's friend, Marshall, has not yet been sentenced. Authorities described him as a “middleman” who arranged for some payments and set up a nonprofit through which Pastor funneled bribes.

Sittenfeld is scheduled to report to prison on Jan. 2 and begin serving a 16-month sentence.

McFarland said Pastor could report to prison on Jan. 22, giving him time to get his affairs in order.

Dennard was sentenced to 18 months in prison but ended up serving about 12 months before being released last year.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Judge sentences ex-Cincinnati Councilman Jeff Pastor to prison