Photo By Matt Borgerding

Dave Petersen of the West End Community Council is critical of the Cincinnati Police Department's handling of a criminal investigation of State Rep. Dale Mallory.

Even after the case has been closed, a seven-month long criminal investigation of State Rep. Dale Mallory that involved local police and the FBI continues to raise more troubling questions than it answered.

When Mallory, the brother of Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, was campaigning for the 32nd District seat in the Ohio House of Representatives last fall, he didn't mention in his rare public appearances that he was the subject of an investigation about alleged wrongdoing at the West End Community Council (see "Dale's Deals," issue of Oct. 11-17, 2006).

In fact, Mallory's supporters disputed claims that he was the target of a criminal investigation by the Cincinnati Police Department, despite residents who made the complaint, stepping forward and acknowledging it, adding that officers had interviewed them as part of the probe.

Later, in mid-January, when CityBeat inquired about the investigation's progress more than six months after it had begun, the newspaper was told it was a "complex" matter, with a police spokesman adding that detectives "couldn't even give me an estimation on when they'll be bringing that to a resolution."

But police documents recently obtained by CityBeat after a public records request indicate the investigation already was completed at the time and had been turned over to the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office, which already had declined prosecution Jan. 6. The Police Department formally closed the case Feb. 7.

If the fact that the case was closed four months ago is news to the public and CityBeat, however, it's more surprising to Dale Mallory. Now serving as a state lawmaker in Columbus, Mallory said he hadn't been notified the matter was dropped when the newspaper interviewed him by telephone June 14.

"I hadn't heard," Mallory says. "It'd be nice if I got a letter."

'Grossly understated'
Begun in June 2006, the police investigation was part of a tumultuous year for Mallory that also saw his impeachment as president of the West End Community Council and revelations about his secret lobbying for a controversial project proposed for the neighborhood.

In May 2006, Mallory wrote checks totaling $1,119 that emptied the West End Community Council's bank account, more than three months after his impeachment and a few weeks after his lawsuit seeking reinstatement was dropped. Mallory had said the money was for an arts program at the YMCA the council authorized in February 2006, but group leaders said no vote was ever taken and alleged Mallory's act was retaliation for his ouster.

The community council filed a complaint in June 2006 with Cincinnati Police that alleged embezzlement against Mallory and Esther Williams, a Mallory friend who was the group's former treasurer and also was ousted.

Whether the department notified Mallory about the probe's conclusion -- and if not, why -- is just one question left lingering in the case.

CityBeat made the public records request to the police department earlier this month. A week later the newspaper received 14 pages of documents. They include a two-page incident closure report and 12 pages of photocopies, mostly of cancelled checks.

The police department spent almost a year on the investigation, including a period when it handed the probe to the FBI for a while to avoid a possible conflict of interest because the mayor's brother was involved. Ultimately, the FBI concluded the allegations didn't involve enough money to merit their involvement and handed the case back to police.

Based on police documents, CityBeat calculates the investigation took about 233 days to complete.

West End residents who filed the complaint that sparked the investigation believe police purposely delayed the inquiry because it involved the mayor's brother and didn't want the publicity before last November's election, when Dale Mallory was a candidate.

"It was a fairly straightforward matter that should have been an open and shut case," says Dave Petersen, a West End Community Council member.

Petersen and some of the community council's officers also question whether all police records were released. They each were interviewed by police during sessions that were tape-recorded.

"There had to be six to eight hours of interviews that I am personally aware of," Petersen says. "The documents seem grossly understated for an investigation that went on for so long. The depth of skullduggery goes far deeper than a two-page report."

CityBeat e-mailed follow-up questions to the police department's public information office to verify that the documents are complete and ask whether any interview transcripts exist. A police spokeswoman forwarded the request to Lt. Col. Richard Janke, the department's second highest-ranking officer after the chief. Janke hasn't yet responded.

Potato toss
Meanwhile, the prosecutor's office questions whether it should have received the case in the first place.

"Our office concluded it was civil in nature, not criminal," says Jennifer Irey, a prosecutor's office spokeswoman.

Mallory says he acted within the scope of his authority involving the community council's money. Regardless, he alleges that the copy of a cancelled check for $1,119.19 signed by Mallory that Petersen and others gave to police was a forgery.

"That thing was counterfeit, forged, faked," Mallory says. "I have no idea where they got that from. I commend the police department for doing a professional job. ... It was a waste of the police department's time."

Police records, though, dispute Mallory's claim. The report states, "Both Dale Mallory and Esther Williams went to the National City Bank and withdrew all funds from the WECC account. They used a counter check signed by both of them, made payable to cash, then obtained a cashier's check."

Of the money that Mallory distributed, $1,000 went to the YMCA to assist a West End art project, and $119.19 went to Marquicia Jones-Woods to buy boots for a local drill team. The YMCA returned its money, but the amount given to Jones-Wood already was spent, the report states.

"They continued to push for an investigation even after they got the money back," Mallory says. "I guess they weren't accustomed to community politics and don't support the arts project."

West End Community Council members defend their complaint. The group is considering filing a lawsuit against Mallory and is reviewing how the community council's money was spent from 2001-05, when he was president. Records are sparse, they add, and it's difficult to track and account for the funds.

"It's not a big number, but the money is important to the neighborhood," Petersen says.

Police didn't aggressively pursue the matter, he says.

"We had meetings with the police and with the FBI," Petersen says. "It went on for months and months. This thing was bounced around like the hot potato it was. The police didn't want to touch it with a 10-foot pole."

Mallory also is facing other legal troubles.

CadleRock Joint Venture, a northern Ohio company, recently won a judgment in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court to garnish Mallory's paycheck to pay off a debt he's owed since at least 1997. Cadlerock is seeking $37,475. Mallory initially contested the debt's validity and he didn't list it on state ethics forms he had to file while running for office.

Mallory's check is being garnished $858 each month to pay off the debt. At that rate, it will take him about two years -- or nearly his entire term in state office -- to pay it off. ©