CLEVELAND, Ohio - Longtime Bedford Law Director Kenneth Schuman collected more than $1.6 million in taxpayer dollars during the stretch of 7 ½ years that prosecutors say he patronized prostitutes, accepted a bribe and stole from the public in a variety of ways.

Schuman, 42,was indicted in December on charges that include bribery, theft in office, money laundering and soliciting. He pleaded not guilty to those charges.



During that span of time, dating back to 2006, the suburb of about 13,000 residents paid Schuman a salary to serve as law director, prosecutor and temporarily act as city manager.

At this same time, the city paid Schuman's private law practice KAS Legal LPA more than $800,000 for legal work – which doubled or nearly doubled what Schuman made in salary , according to public records requested by The Plain Dealer.

Defense attorney Mark Stanton, who is representing Schuman along with James McDonnell, said declined to comment on the pending case.

In addition, Schuman also handled legal work for other suburbs like Bentleyville, Maple Heights and Bedford Heights – making at least an additional $315,000, according to public records obtained by The Plain Dealer.

Bedford Heights official said they could not provide The Plain Dealer with exact amounts Schuman billed or was paid for legal work. Law Director Ross Cirincione said in a letter that the payments, mainly for labor and contract negotiations, were passed through two separate law firms that served the city, one being Cirincione's.

Public records show Bentleyville paid Schuman more than $180,000 for law director duties performed from 2008 through 2013.

The village did not renew its contract with Schuman this year.

Mayor Leonard Spermulli, who said he has known Schuman since law school, told the Northeast Ohio Media Group after Schuman's indictment that he had no plans to investigate work Schuman did for the village, which mainly consisted of preparing and reviewing ordinances.

Maple Heights contracted with Schuman for labor contract negotiations and records show he was paid more than $135,000 from 2008 through 2013. He no longer has a contract with the city, Mayor Jeff Lansky said.

According to city officials, Schuman didn't have a contract or letter that outlined exactly what fell under his law director or prosecutor duties or what he could bill the city for in addition to his salary, as do law directors in some other suburbs.

A review of city ordinances shows that when Schuman was promoted from an assistant law director in 2000, the emergency ordinance referenced that he should "be entitled to bill for outside services."

In 2004, another ordinance set the hourly rate of pay for "court time and other extraordinary services" performed by the law director or prosecutor at $90 per hour.

Although there is nothing inherently illegal about performing law director duties for multiple municipalities – in fact it is common – the web of work Schuman was paid for is central to the case Cuyahoga County prosecutors are building against him, according to court records.

A number of the charges against Schuman relate specifically to an instance in 2006 when prosecutors say he accepted a $9,500 bribe from a law firm doing business with the city.

But another felony charge, theft in office, spans years when prosecutors believe Schuman ordered Bedford city employees – including secretaries and clerks -- to prepare memos and legal documents for other municipalities and his private clients.

Prosecutors also appear to be looking at Schuman's use of other city resources.

Court records show investigators obtained a 2009 Cuyahoga Falls police report involving a 16-year-old boy pulled over while driving a Bedford-owned Ford Crown Victoria with the police lights activated.

The 16-year-old, who had two girls in the car, told police that Schuman was his mother's boyfriend and had given him permission to drive the car. Police contacted Schuman who confirmed that but said he didn't know the teen would activate the lights.

The teen's mother came up again in 2013, when investigators say Schuman tried to interfere in an investigation into a massage parlor in a Northfield Road office complex that prosecutors say operated as a brothel. The woman was affiliated with the massage parlor and records show that Schuman questioned a detective and the Bedford Police Chief about the case – which led to charges against him of obstructing justice and falsification.

James Walsh, 71, was indicted on charges of promoting prostitution and money laundering two months before Schuman was charged.

Legal experts say the world of legal ethics can be murky when it comes to attorneys who represent multiple cities.

Most of the standards and guidelines revolve around billing being reasonable and not billing twice for the same work or the same hours, said Case Western Reserve University School of Law Professor Emeritus Robert Lawry.

Lawry, who directs the Center for Professional Ethics, said it is best if the understandings between attorneys and municipalities, or any clients, are spelled out in writing.

In many respects, Lawry said, that burden falls to city councils and mayors.

"It certainly is not a good governmental practice to not have that spelled out in detail," Lawry said.

Former Bedford City Manager Hank Angelo, who retired at the end of January, said he questioned why Schuman did not have a contract that spelled out what he could bill for but was told that "was the way things were always done with Kenny."

He said council continued to resist the idea of a contract when they hired a replacement after Schuman went on medical leave and was later indicted.

Catherine Turcer, a policy analyst for Common Cause Ohio, a nonpartisan group that promotes good government, said just because something isn't legally prohibited doesn't mean elected officials shouldn't use common sense.

"It always seems to be a problem when any government entity acts like 'this is business as usual,'" she said.

It is up to elected municipal officials to ask better questions about contracts on behalf of the citizens, she said.

Turcer also said that putting more public records –online at the fingertips of citizens would heighten transparency.

"It's 2014," she said. "Not 1994. Put the contracts, put the bills online," Turcer said, advocating that a dose of digital "sunshine" could prevent the type of wrongdoing prosecutors say Schuman perpetrated on taxpayers.