WATCH | Former Cuyahoga County Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze sentenced for records tampering

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:01:31]frequencies.

[00:02:14]$300 right Three people.

[00:03:13]Wait a minute.

[00:04:00]Yeah.

[00:04:17]>> Okay.

[00:04:24]Yes.

[00:04:35]to stay for sure.

[00:04:53]Yeah.

[00:05:04]Get serial number.

[00:05:36]How much they're worth?

[00:06:12]Oh yeah.

[00:06:46]All right. The honorable judge, >> please be seated. All right. We're here this afternoon for a sentencing hearing. State of Ohio versus Lesie Celibies.

[00:07:21]Uh the defendant entered a plea back on February the 4th of this year to one count of tampering with records, a felony of the third degree.

[00:07:37]The court did order a pre-sentence investigation which was done and I have read the report.

[00:07:48]So it's time now for sentencing.

[00:07:51]Uh, I'd like to start out by just briefly summarizing from the pres-sentence investigation the the facts relating to this indictment and then call on the defendant and her counsel to make any statements they would like to make and then the same for the prosecution.

[00:08:18]So, this indictment, this crime involved a divorce case that started back in 2020.

[00:08:27]Uh, the indictment here, uh, the date of the offense is on or about January 18th, 2023 through the 19th, which is about the time the defendant got involved in the case. It was originally randomly assigned to Judge Goldberg who recused and it was then randomly assigned to Judge Reali Reali uh who then assigned it to her magistrate.

[00:09:04]uh he became ill in December of 2022 and became and began working a uh reduced schedule.

[00:09:16]Uh it was a very contentious case, dozens of motions.

[00:09:21]Uh in early January 2023, the respondent approached the magistrate and advised him that she would take this case to relieve the burden of presiding over a contentious case while he was sick.

[00:09:39]Uh a few days later, the respondent, the defendant, approached uh Judge Reley and offered to take the case to reduce that judge's case load.

[00:09:53]Uh a few days later, the defendant approached Judge Really and said that she'd been getting some calls on the case and then offered to take it to reduce uh the judges, Judge Reali's case load.

[00:10:10]January 18th of 2023, Judge Reali recused herself from the case.

[00:10:20]And then it was that at that time uh rather than having the case randomly assigned, the defendant directed the assignment commissioner to assign the case to her.

[00:10:33]Uh and she then autogenerated an entry that falsely stated that the case had been randomly assigned to her.

[00:10:47]So then to to finish up the case was set for trial before the defendant.

[00:10:57]Uh apparently the trial started.

[00:11:01]There was then a recess to talk settlement.

[00:11:04]Uh the defendant asked the lawyers to consider a mediator.

[00:11:10]When asked who she would recommend, she re recommended uh Mr. Dtori, which the parties objected to so he was not appointed. Ultimately, the defendant recused herself and it was the case was randomly assigned to another judge, Judge Pos.

[00:11:36]So that's a summary of what uh this indictment is about.

[00:11:47]So, at this time, I would ask the defendant if she had anything she wanted to say to the court. I would note that she did uh provide a written in a written statement as part of the presentence investigation uh which I've read. Council, >> thank you. Your honor, just as a matter of housekeeping, as it relates to the presence investigation, the statement that was attributed to Miss Celibreezy, actually, there were some uh errors that were within that. And so, what I did bring today, it didn't really change the substance of it, but uh there were some uh errors in there that uh I wanted to clear up. On February 23rd of 2026, we had submitted uh that statement from Miss Celz2, the probation officer. I do have that marked uh here as defense exhibit A and if it would meet with your approval, I'd ask to hand it to you.

[00:12:43]>> Sure.

[00:12:43]>> Thank you.

[00:12:44]>> I have provided a copy of that to the prosecutor already.

[00:13:09]The like us to speak from here or the podium?

[00:13:12]>> Uh, whichever you're you prefer. We'll go to the podium.

[00:13:32]Thank you, Arc, for giving us this opportunity. Uh we do stand here today uh with a felony of the third degree uh with no request from either party uh for incarceration sentence uh but a an agreement or resignation from office uh and obviously this felony plea.

[00:13:54]As I start off today, I do have a rather extended statement to make to you because you'll understand why as I go through all of the facets of my sub's life. I think it's important for you to consider. And so I'd like to characterize this and therefore title my presentation a step from the path and and this name will be better understood at the conclusion of my remarks. Uh we're here to speak today about former judge Leslie Ancelreezy and not as a distant name on a docket but as someone whose life and service are rooted in her upbringing, her values and lived experience.

[00:14:34]Uh she was drawn to service long before she ever wrote. She grew up in a family dedicated to public life and a family that did believe in fairness, responsibility, and commitment to service. Her father served on the same court as she did. Her grandfather also served on the bench and those examples shaped her sense of purpose and her understanding of what it meant to serve.

[00:14:57]Now before Judge Celibreezy or former Judge Celibres entered law, she entered one of the most noble callings that there is and that was that of a registered nurse.

[00:15:07]Uh she does remain one uh to this day and that work taught her steadiness, responsibility and compassion. It taught her how to stand with people during some of the most uh difficult moments of their lives. And that grounding never left her and in fact gave her the lens within which she looked at the law when she entered into it. She did answer uh what she believed to be her calling uh into the legal profession first as a staff attorney then as a magistrate uh and then through the trust of the voters for more than a decade and a half uh as a judge in the domestic relations branch.

[00:15:44]So in that courtroom, families and futures, as you know, as many come before you, uh were at stake. Uh they were not abstract disputes. They were real people, real lives with real consequences.

[00:15:57]And through it all, she did work tirelessly with dignity, discipline, empathy, and care.

[00:16:04]Hence, my name was step off the path because all of that leads up to the date of this instance that brings us here today.

[00:16:15]Uh people who came before her and I think one of the things to notice early on is that side of the courtroom is is bare usually where we have supporters uh that come and even the most heinous offenders who come before the court, we find that there are supporters. But the decision, it was a conscious decision by Lesie Celery not to have people here today. She got herself into this. Uh many things um she's thought about this and did not want to trouble anyone or bring them in here. Uh as far as sentencing memorandums, we usually have them full of letters, glowing letters. uh but uh she's going to stand on her responsibility and her her path getting her here for you to decide here today and did not want to put this on anyone else.

[00:17:08]So over the last several months that we've been here, I have received many calls though and the theme that I have gotten is that uh when she was a judge, when she was a magistrate, when she was involved in the law, she respected the process and respected the people involved.

[00:17:24]Um people came to her when everything was in turmoil. They were hurting. They needed resolution. And in her courtroom at the time, she really did make a conscious effort to get families involved. She made the children very involved in the process, even when emotions ran high and pain was real and the stakes could not have been higher.

[00:17:44]She earned she carried that responsibility seriously every single day. And that was because on top of serving as a judge, she raised three children with her husband who was a respected position in town.

[00:17:59]Lesie Celgrezy does understand the pressure and responsibility and the reality that families live with. She knows what it means to worry and to fight for stability and to carry the weight of decisions that affect the people you love most.

[00:18:13]Throughout her years of service, she did she showed up and she listened. She brought fairness, compassion, and judgment to others. She never forgot that behind every file and every hearing there were children. Parents and families are to keep living with the outcome.

[00:18:29]I explained to you a moment ago why there's no one here today. Uh but I would like to talk about uh this being a model for how to accept responsibility when the allegations surfaced and I had the opportunity to speak with assistant county prosecutor Musman uh and we and I appreciate his cander and going through all the aspects of this case. uh he gave me fair opportunity to uh speak with Michelle Breezy and as as evidenced by the information in this case that she entered into um she put up no fight. She opted not to see how the system worked, knowing fully well that people uh who are guilty of offenses still more times than not opt to go to trial, have their cases pre-tried, see who shows up as witnesses, see how they can get their case uh brought down to misdemeanors and so forth.

[00:19:31]We looked at the history of other judges who had been um brought before a bench for various offenses and I could have made arguments uh very easily as to different treatment. That's not what she wanted in this case. She said, "I did it and I'll stand there and that's the end of this." And that's how she's been.

[00:19:53]Um, I have gone through the history of all of the judges in this region, northeast Ohio, but for the judges that were caught up in the public corruption cases in the northern district uh by the federal courts. Uh, and I would say that if you were to look at all of those cases from 2009 up until 2021, uh, I would describe, I don't want to get into kind of shades of conduct, which is better, which is worse, but I will say the difference in the way that they handled it was very clear. Uh they fought the cases, they contested the cases, they drew out the cases, uh they uh fought the disciplinary processes, they fought every aspect of the way. And when sanctions were imposed in those cases in which they were, uh those cost the taxpayers money. Uh that also was something that uh Leslie Selzy did not think uh was fair uh at all. And what she did and also if I may approach a bail with uh exhibit B was a resignation of her judgeship right away without any contest at all. If I may just provide a copy, man.

[00:21:19]Exhibit B is a letter from Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy acknowledging the submission of the resignation letter that was given to Judge Diane Palis. Uh, right away again, just goes to show that this is someone when we talk about what does taking responsibility mean?

[00:21:40]The behavior here is so clear.

[00:21:44]oftentimes we stand and we say our client and the client does in fact get up there and accept responsibility and they say your honor I'm sorry for what I did and I'm here and I took a plea and all those things but the actions that have even led up till the time of the plea and that which I'm still going to continue to talk about really show that she has set a model in how to really define what responsibility and taking responsibility is in a criminal case.

[00:22:10]Now, stories and claims have swirled for years as to what occurred here. And as with most stories that spread like kind of the childhood game of telephone, the vast majority of it was nothing more than fodder for gossip. Frankly, uh former uh judge celebrs here today to separate the truth from fiction. Uh yes, she was responsible for it. She did in fact improperly have a journal entry executed. It indicated that the case was randomly assigned while it was held by um at that time the judge herself. She recognizes the impropriety of her actions and voluntarily stands here today to admit the offense which will alter the course of her life in a manner that she and her countless supporters that wanted to be here today could have and would have never imagined. She makes no excuse and she minimizes nothing. Uh the swift resolution in this case is is widely known with her character.

[00:23:08]Her background uh again as I said was began in 2000 as a staff attorney and while in law school she went to night school and she worked at a doctor's office. Again as I said she was a registered as a registered nurse. Uh she had three children uh all of them while she was uh serving in the municipal court.

[00:23:30]In addition to just taking to the bench, uh she also volunteered her time for what she cared about. She taught religion in kindergarten and first grade. Uh she's worked at and continues to work at the animal shelter and specifically was the par animal shelter for three years. Uh all three of her kids uh have done very well under the care of she and her husband. Two are in medical school, one is in undergraduate business school.

[00:23:57]Now, this case has spanned really three years uh since this has kind of been talked about and uh stories started to uh come out uh about it.

[00:24:09]When we looked and I asked Lesie, "How many cases do you think you handled?" Uh she believed that she had handled in excess of 20,000 cases. Approximately 400 a month is what a judge was carrying over at that time. Somewhere between a 3 to 500 uh case spread. She employed two magistrates, two staff members, a baiff and a judicial assistant. And all of that took a heavy toll on her as well when she had to tell him that she was no longer coming back. And it was abrupt.

[00:24:38]I asked her because as I said, she should not be defined by one moment.

[00:24:43]Unfortunately, I asked that she not be defined by this one course of action in her life, but by a long history of of good deeds throughout her life. I asked her what she was most proud of. She had said her children, her three children uh helping her husband and his career. And then also one of the things that she did as a judge that uh has carried on and will carry on despite what she's done here will carry on to help countless people and that was putting into developing and putting into play what was called the PAVE program AV and that was parenting after violence education.

[00:25:22]It began as a pilot program that spanned 18 months and it would be described as a batteries intervention and parenting class combined. Uh it helped abusers with trauma. It protected spouses and it assisted children in the end. It helped fathers reunite with their children. And while it only started with her as the presiding judge, it became a court program. And so regardless of what happens here, regardless of how she's viewed after all of this is done, she has left a legacy of good that's going to help many people uh that enter into that courthouse.

[00:25:59]She did receive the uh the disciplinary notice uh from the court. She was suspended for two years. She was stayed for a year. She is under suspension now.

[00:26:11]uh but her intention is to uh look into uh nursing and to get back to what her original love and path was which is still just helping people.

[00:26:23]So, I've reviewed as have you certainly the sentencing factors pursuant to revised code section 292911 and obviously the overriding purposes of felony sentencing to protect the public and to punish uh the offender, promote effective rehabilitation without imposing an unnecessary burden on state or local government resources.

[00:26:50]not demeaning the seriousness of the offense.

[00:26:53]Um, I would say, your honor, that the term of supervision is more than adequate in this case. I don't come to you today saying she can comply with a term of supervision. I come to you today to say that she has complied with the term of supervision. I'm going to uh explain that now for you. Um, of course, after a plea uh is done, we wait for sentencing. Typically, there are instances where uh someone may be incarcerated. This not being the case.

[00:27:26]Um, but we looked at the factors, those to determine whether or not the conduct was more or less serious than the conduct normally constituting the offense. uh and the conduct uh to determine uh or her history to determine whether or not it's more or less likely that she's going to repeat this or any other criminal offense in the future.

[00:27:47]And the one thing that certainly we have to acknowledge is that when we look at subsection B, the fact that she held public office uh is is uh is there is present and it's uh something that we took seriously and it was something that we felt uh warranted more than coming here and saying we're sorry uh and therefore uh give us a chance. Uh, and so from the date of the plea, which we began was February 3rd, but on February 4th, uh, we began, um, I guess you would say self-imposed electronic monitor house arrest program. Um, I've got all the documentation here. I've asked Mr. Bob Patterson to be present today also to testify and answer any questions that you have, uh, should you have any. Uh, but for the last near four months, it'll be four months and two days. Um Leslie and Celebrity has been confined to her home. Uh she has not left her home. She has been in the home 24 hours a day. But for uh very limited and approved uh notified instances, one was uh one child's uh white lab, I'm sorry, white coat ceremony uh in medical school. Uh two was to put a dog down. Uh and then three uh there were necessities of life gross receipts for which I have every single receipt uh that she has. Other than that she did not leave the house in 4 months and there had to be a penalty and four months of house arrest is nothing to sneeze at. Uh but she did it and uh and I would submit then that we look at that as mitigation under subsection uh C of less serious conduct normally constituting the offense.

[00:29:51]I don't think that Judge Celib is likely to commit any future crimes. Uh she's no longer a judge. So that doesn't even exist. And I will say that the Ohio Supreme Court has given great weight just to that factor alone. Uh in a case uh that was of alleged fraud and proven fraud eventually of a judge in Lraine County.

[00:30:14]Uh the court the Supreme Court in rendering its discipline in that case uh really looked to the fact that uh that person was no longer going to be a judge. uh and in imposing the disciplinary uh sanction gave greater weight to that um as one of its factors.

[00:30:36]So as I've said Leslie Salibracy has devoted her life to public service. She's mentored others.

[00:30:45]She's contributed to the legal community. She's worked to strengthen both the justice system and the people within it. She gave years of energy, commitment, and care to the people of Kyoga County. She did. And this is really unfortunate that uh the harm that this is doing to her reputation and her legacy and to that of not just her, but those that she cares about, her family and so forth. I mean, never in a million years would she have expected, nor any of us who knew her expected her to have to walk out. Um, you know, I can say keep your head up high and walk out with your head up high and only you know you and all these things. It's very difficult to do walking past a panel of cameras to walk out knowing that that's the last anyone's going to see of you in a state of shame. Uh, having u had their fate decided by you, your honor.

[00:31:40]So I hope that she is not defined by this one moment but by consistent effort substance over noise, conscience over convenience. And I talked about a step from the path. And the reason that I said that is at her age as is set forth in the presentence investigation with the conduct that's here. We talk about and I'm not here to minimize anything at all, but we do have to look at what the conduct was.

[00:32:08]um the 4 months of the house arrest would have been no different uh whether she did it the way she did it or in the way that you would have done it. It was the same exact program. And that's more than sufficient uh to punish her, to rehabilitate her, to deter, and to make a point.

[00:32:32]And stepping away from the bench does not mean stepping away from service.

[00:32:36]She'll continue to support her community. She'll continue to help, to contribute, and to serve even off the bench. And Leslie celebrates it will continue that work, not because of title, but because that part of service truly is who she is.

[00:32:51]I've gone over this entire statement many, many times with Lesie Celzy. She's approved all of it. She's adopted everything I've said. She accepts the responsibility. She is remorseful. She's mindful of the impact her actions have had upon others. She's already paid an enormous price for this act. U we are prepared to accept what you now deem or do deem as appropriate pursuant to law.

[00:33:18]I know that uh she is uh prepared uh another statement for you. If the court has any questions for me, including why I am very comfortable saying that when we compare this because her sentence has to be consistent with other sentences imposed of course by similar offenders, similar offenses and again in looking through all of the offenses what she has done imposed herself and I want to be clear crystal clear as to why she imposed it herself. That is because every single time someone gets sentenced by you or any other judge on the bench, it's the taxpayer has to bear the cost of doing that. In this case, she did not put a single penny on anybody. She's willing to pay the cost of the investigation. And the cost of this she had to pay. It was $2,000 upfront. It was $10,000 a month uh that she had to do. And that is far beyond any sentence that any judge has done for conduct that I would submit. not she because she's not here to downplay anything, but that I have the responsibility to describe as conduct that would be similar and worse. But again, most importantly, in situations, all of them where the judges required that the system expend greater resource on them. She is the only person that has not done that.

[00:34:46]Thank you, your honor, for all the time that you give on this case.

[00:34:55]>> I stand here today in complete agreement with the statement.

[00:35:10]>> 427.

[00:35:12]>> My legal counsel shared. We stand here today because of my actions only. I apologize, your honor. My actions have consequences and I accept that the last several months been confined to my house. It caused me to really reflect on my conduct and my life in general. I am so generally sorry for what I've done and whatever your deities appropriate.

[00:35:37]Please know again I'm deeply sorry and I am committed to getting back on my life path of helping others. Thank you.

[00:35:47]>> Support of any questions on council or television.

[00:35:53]>> No, I don't believe so.

[00:35:54]>> Thank you.

[00:35:54]>> Thank you, >> Mr. Musman.

[00:36:02]>> Thank you, your honor. Greg Ray Musman, on behalf of the state of Ohio, your honor, first I'd like to thank the investigation uh that was conducted by the Cleveland office of of the FBI. Uh the FBI did a thorough investigation with respect to this matter. They presented their findings to me. Based on that investigation, uh I had reached out to council for Miss Cibies.

[00:36:26]I will say uh council for Miss Cib immediately uh indicated that she was going to take responsibility for that matter.

[00:36:37]And that's why we do have an information instead of an indictment. That being said, your honor, the allegation was that Miss Cibri did in fact steer a case to herself under the deception of a false journal entry.

[00:36:51]So, your honor, that being said, there were two conditions with respect to our negotiations.

[00:36:59]The celebrities had to resign from office immediately, which she did, and she had to plead to a felony. There were no negotiations for a misdemeanor plea.

[00:37:08]It was a felony only. Miss Celib took responsibility and did enter a plea to a felony. So with that being said, your honor, the state of Ohio would defer to this court with respect to sentencing.

[00:37:32]As council uh stated in reciting the uh overriding purposes of sentencing, protect the public, punish the offender, and promote effective rehabilitation of the defendant while using minimum sanctions that the court determines accomplish those purposes without imposing any unnecessary burden on the government.

[00:38:04]And then the court has to look at the seriousness factors and the recidivism factors which I think your council appropriately summarized with I mean given the resignation you're not going to be in a position to commit this offense again. So that's pretty easy. Uh there's also the factor of are you genuinely remorseful or not? But that goes to recidivism. So it's almost irrelevant.

[00:38:48]Uh I mean I don't I never know if a person's genuinely remorseful. How how can I figure that out? It appears you are from reading your statement and from listening to you today. But as I said, you're not going to commit this offense again.

[00:39:08]So, the court has uh focused on the seriousness factors.

[00:39:16]Uh I'm not sure I agree with your council that four months of home confinement makes this less serious.

[00:39:32]uh but I have taken that into account.

[00:39:37]Uh what makes it more serious is as he mentioned that you're you were a you held a public office and also because of your particular position you were that helped facilitate what you actually did to commit this crime.

[00:40:00]Uh, as I told council, I don't know if it was on the record or not, but uh, I wanted a pres-sentence investigation because I wanted that information and it would help me determine whether or not to impose any local jail time, which I wanted to keep as a possibility.

[00:40:29]Prison time I was not interested in.

[00:40:32]Although I mean I think you could make an argument for it given what you did but uh and I appreciate the fact that you haven't drawn this out. You've admitted what you did. You haven't wasted people's time.

[00:40:54]uh and I've taken that into account also. But as to the seriousness, I I think about as a judge who is on the bench for 43 years plus three and a half years in retirement.

[00:41:09]Uh it concerns me the the harm to the judiciary that something like this causes when government officials, judges, mayors, elected officials are not held in high esteem by the public right now. And something like this when it is reported to the public just lowers that esteem.

[00:41:56]And it also uh I also think about the hundreds of other judges in this state who you know go through their day doing the right thing, following the rules of superintendence.

[00:42:14]uh uh the harm that it might do to them when the people in their county think all these judges are crooked, corrupt.

[00:42:28]So, what I've determined is that there should be some incarceration uh given the nature of the offense and the fact that you held public office. So, the court is first of all going to impose a fine of $10,000 plus the court costs and 60 days in the county jail.

[00:42:53]That would be the order of the court.

[00:42:56]Anything further at this time?

[00:42:59]>> Just objection to your Thank you. Thank you, honor.

[00:43:06]Wait for you.

[00:44:03]God.