CLEVELAND — Trevor Elkins, the former mayor of Newburgh Heights, has been remanded into custody after being sentenced in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday afternoon. It comes more than two months after Elkins pleaded guilty on misdemeanor charges related to an investigation of his campaign finances.
“This violation as a public official of public trust does warrant jail days," Judge Joan Synenberg said while announcing the punishment for Elkins. "I’m imposing six months concurrent. I’m suspending 150 days of it, placing you in one year of community controlled sanctions with the condition of serving 30 days in jail and 200 hours of community work service. If you finish the 200 hours of community work service sooner than the one year, I will consider early termination."
You can watch the full sentencing hearing in the player below:
His sentence comes months after Elkins had made a plea deal in the case. 3News previously reported the following terms of his plea agreement:
- Elkins will resign from office
- Elkins will avoid jail
- Five years of probation
- He will resign from mayor and pay a $750 fine
- His campaign account will be closed
- He won’t run for any political office in Cuyahoga County for the 2024-28 term
His sentencing hearing included a back-and-forth exchange with Judge Synenberg questioning and doubting some of the comments Elkins was making while addressing the court. Here's a portion of that conversation:
Elkins: “Your honor, I did not steal money. I did not embezzle money. I spent my own money.”
Judge: Why did you plead guilty to three offenses of taking on 651 instances money given by people who supported your candidacy and used it for personal expenses? Everything from bars, restaurants, haircuts, shopping? So this is money that was not yours. This is money that was given to your campaign. It’s unfathomable that a public official -- a mayor -- or common sense doesn’t say that you know that.”
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Judge: “In 15 years of being a public official, you’re telling this court that you did not know that money given to support your candidacy is not meant to be used paying off credit cards, taking out cash? The list goes on and on. You are stating on the record today, which is alarming and unfathomable, that in 15 years of being a public official you did not understand that you don’t use campaign finance contributions as your own personal bank account.”
Elkins: “Your honor, that’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is I put my own personal money into that bank account and took it out.”
Judge: “Sir, are you disputing that you used funds from campaign contributors, which is what the gist of this case is? Why did you plead guilty? This isn’t a technical, clerical error. This happened over and over. It stopped when you were caught. There’s a public that’s concerned here. I’ll tell you, if I’m contributing to someone’s candidacy, I don’t think that they’re going out to a salon. It’s because I support their beliefs. I want them to represent the community. I want to be there for them. It’s very difficult to imagine that you don’t understand that simple rule.”
Elkins: “I do apologize, your honor. I do understand. What I didn’t understand is I couldn’t use the campaign bank account for two purposes. At the time I was doing it, I did not think that I was using campaign donor money because I was putting my own money into the account and then taking it out. I did not understand that. I’ve said that repeatedly. That is the truth. As the result, as you can see, your honor, the results demonstrate in the end the campaign account actually owed me a substantial amount of money.”
Judge: “You’re a victim?”
Elkins: “I’m not saying that, your honor.”
Judge: “Why did you not just use your own account? This doesn’t even make common sense.”
Elkins: “It was a bad habit and it was laziness. I don’t have a good excuse, your honor. I don’t. I’ve said that to the prosecutor. I’ve said that to the Board of Elections and the Cuyahoga County Elections Commission. It was a bad habit of using the same bank account for two purposes. That is generally what occurred. It wasn’t common sense. With all the things going on with trying to run a municipality, I should have retained legal counsel to manage my campaign finance account. I did not do that.”
Judge: “I don’t know that you need a lawyer to do that.”
Elkins: “A campaign finance expert, I should say.”
Judge: “It’s incumbent on you.”
Elkins: “I understand, your honor. Which is why I’ve accepted responsibility.”
Judge: “For what?”
Elkins: “For committing these violations. I do wish to say I most certainly was not attempting to break the law. The totals demonstrate that. I’ve acknowledged my error repeatedly. I do so again today. I accept responsibility for the violations.”
Elkins also issued an apology to his family, community, supports and the judge as well.
The probe into Elkins' activities first became public last April, according to previous reporting from 3News' Mark Naymik and Phil Trexler. It came amid allegations Elkins had funneled roughly $134,000 from his campaign coffers over a period beginning in 2017.
Gigi Traore, the Village Council President Pro Tempore, has stepped in as Newburgh Heights Mayor. She will hold the office until a new mayor is formally elected.
Editor's note: Video in the player above was originally published in a previous story on May 2, 2022.