harlan diamond - april 2011.JPG

Executive Caterers of Landerhaven co-owner Harlan Diamond, left, is shown in this April 5, 2011, photo after pleading guilty to helping former Cuyahoga County commissioner Jimmy Dimora defraud his campaign account. Diamond and his attorney Robert T. Glickman, pictured here, are appealing Diamond's and Executive Caterer's recent blacklisting from receiving Cuyahoga County contracts.

(John Kuntz, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Executive Caterers CEO Harlan Diamond is appealing a corruption-related ban on receiving Cuyahoga County contracts, saying he only admitted to helping Jimmy Dimora defraud his campaign account to avoid the stress and cost of a lengthy trial.

County Inspector General Nailah Byrd recently included Executive Caterers, which operates the Landerhaven party center in Mayfield Heights, and Diamond on a black list, alongside 26 other individuals and companies that are forbidden from doing business with the county for the next five years for a

.

Diamond was

, a year after he pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. He admitted to conspiring with Dimora to help use campaign contributions to pay for a 50th birthday celebration for Dimora's wife in July 2006 at the party center.

The

calls for a five-year "debarment" if a contractor or potential contractor has been convicted of fraud or other crimes.

The county's Debarment Review Board, which held a perfunctory inaugural meeting in September, will meet next Thursday to likely set a date to hear Diamond's case, according to county officials. The board can uphold the debarment, overturn it, or send it back to Byrd for more review.

In a written appeal to the board, attorney Robert T. Glickman said the case against Diamond was "incredibly weak," and the board should consider Diamond's good reputation and overturn Byrd's decision.

Diamond realizes he made a mistake in helping Dimora, Glickman said, but he only pleaded guilty to avoid being tried alongside the disgraced former commissioner, who is serving a 28-year federal prison sentence after a jury convicted him on 32 corruption-related charges.

Glickman points out Dimora only beat one charge: a single count of mail fraud related to the birthday party.

"Mr. Diamond is almost 80 years old, and his guilty plea had far more to do with health and financial concerns than the strength of the Government's case," Glickman wrote.

Glickman also included a transcript of Diamond's court hearing, in which U.S. District Judge John Adams called the prosecution of Diamond "somewhat heavy-handed and an overreach," as well as letters of support for Diamond from prominent Northeast Ohioans.

U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Mike Tobin declined to comment for this story.