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Former Cleveland Councilman Joe Cimperman pleads guilty to 26 charges

Cimperman served 18 years on City Council before resigning in 2016.

CLEVELAND -- Former Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman pleaded guilty to 26 misdemeanor charges during a brief court hearing Friday morning.

The judge assigned the case for another hearing on Tuesday, May 8 at 9 a.m.

Cimperman served 18 years on City Council before resigning in 2016. As part of the plea deal, he will pay a fine of $10,000. He could still face up to 18 months in prison.

In a statement to WKYC earlier this week, Cimperman said he had reached an agreement with the state of Ohio and will therefore not be contesting the charges, which date back to 2002.

"I accept full responsibility for my actions and I apologize to anyone who may have been impacted by this," he added. "I look forward to having this investigation and legal process complete."

This is not the first time Cimperman has run into issues with the Ohio Ethics Commission: He reportedly accepted a massive amount of more that 350 gifts back in 2008, although most were later found to have been related to the birth of his daughter and his family's house burning down.

Cimperman's current employer, Global Cleveland, announced on Wednesday night that they are standing behind the former councilman. The company's board chairman, David Fleshler, released this statement:

“When we hired Joe, we did so because we were looking for a strong leader who would take Global Cleveland to the next level. During our search and hiring process, Joe made it known to us that there was a pending review of some of his actions when he served on City Council. That review is complete and he is accepting responsibility for his actions in court. Our Board has voted unanimously to have Joe continue as our president. We have tremendous faith in Joe look forward to increased success of the organization in the years ahead.”

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