CLEVELAND, Ohio -- County Auditor Frank Russo appears ready to own up to what prosecutors have been alleging for over a year and others have suspected for much longer -- that the flashy Democrat has abused his office and used his power to line his pockets and help his friends for more than a decade.

The long-time elected official, whose smiling face adorns gas pumps and grocery scales across the county, resigned his job Thursday morning, shortly before federal prosecutors charged him with 21 corruption-related crimes.

Russo declined to comment on the charges through his attorney Roger Synenberg.

The 58-page charging document filled with an alphabet soup of unnamed collaborators suggests Russo coordinated a web of corruption that included low-level bureaucrats and the county sheriff, lawyers and sitting judges, construction contractors and business consultants -- one of them his own son.

The bribes and deception extended from a holy shrine in Euclid to the gambling tables of Las Vegas, according to the charges. And the payoff to Russo was substantial. In one count, Russo admitted taking a series of bribes totaling more than $1 million over 10 years.

Russo may have stooped his lowest, however, when he tried to cover up those bribes by making it appear the money came from personal donations given in the wake of a son's death, according to the charges.

Full coverage of the Russo resignation

Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo resigns

Veteran prosecutor heads corruption team

What about Jimmy Dimora?

Investigation goes back to at least 2006

Details from the federal filing

Coverup was planned at Our Lady of Lourdes shrine, prosecutors say

Russo rigged 2006 election by paying for fake opponent, prosecutors say

Contractor provided Las Vegas trip, prosecutors say

Russo traded contract for political donations, prosecutors say

Auditor's office cut property value on buildings Russo had a hand in selling, prosecutors say

Judge Anthony Russo benefitted from brother's crimes, prosecutors say

Russo helped land job in return for gifts, prosecutors say

Russo used office to help out son's business, prosecutors say

Russo got home improvements in return for favors, prosecutors say

Charges suggest Russo corrupted judges

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Reaction

Editorial: The Plain Dealer's opinion

Editorial cartoon: Jeff Darcy's opinion

Reaction from auditor's office employees

County in crisis coverage

Who's who: Guide to people named or described in search warrants or indictments

What's what: Guide to the schemes described in indictments

A year later, 2009: Overview of the investigation

Two years later, 2010: Overview of the investigation

All related stories

But what slapped County Treasurer James Rokakis in the face about the charges against Russo was the sheer number of county employees, public officials and private business implicated with the former auditor, but not necessarily charged or even identified by name.

"Many shoes to drop," Rokakis predicted.

Russo, 60, of Bratenahl, is expected to plead guilty to the charges, which include bribery, obstruction of justice and tax fraud. The charges came more than two years after federal agents launched what would become the biggest crackdown on public corruption in Cuyahoga County history, and a year after prosecutors outlined specific charges. The investigation became public on July 28, 2008, when agents raided the homes and offices of Russo and Commissioner Jimmy Dimora.

Dimora has not been charged and has vehemently claimed he did nothing wrong. But after Russo's charges were announced, observers openly wondered if Dimora would be next.

The probe has revealed a widespread culture of corruption throughout the county and upset the balance of power in county politics.

Voters approved unprecedented reform of county government last year. Russo's job as county auditor will no longer be elected come the first of the year, but rather an appointment made by the new county executive.

Russo's plea agreement has not been made public. Russo's sentence could have been cut in half had he agreed to cooperate with the government, a source said.

The agreement would seal the fate of both Russo and his son, Vince. The younger Russo, who had his own consulting business called VinCore, was charged earlier this year with bribing a Maple Heights schools official and former Maple Heights school board member with free television sets. Some believe it was the government's way of putting pressure on Vince's father.

As it stands, neither Frank nor Vince Russo will be required to testify against any other defendant or even be questioned in connection with the probe, a source said. The deal also sets a sentence for Vince Russo, who would change his not guilty plea if the agreement with his father is approved.

Russo's deal also protects his other children, as well as his housemate Michael Calabrese, from any possible prosecution, a source said.

The deal is unlike the nearly three dozen plea agreements reached with other defendants in the probe. If accepted by U. S. District Judge Kate O'Malley, the precise terms of the deal can't be altered.

Many judges don't like such limitations, said Geoffrey Mearns, interim provost at Cleveland State University and a former federal prosecutor, which leads him to believe the judge will take several months to decide whether to accept the plea deal. Ultimately, he believes she will.

Many of the charges against Russo have been alleged in plea deals with other defendants. They include all manner of bribes, from trips to Las Vegas, to granite counter tops, to wads of cash in return for jobs, lucrative contracts and lower property tax bills. Russo even admitted that he rigged an election and conspired with two judges.

One of the new figures connected to Russo to come out of the charges is former Sheriff Gerald McFaul, who resigned in disgrace and was convicted of state corruption charges.

Russo was bribed by a part-time employee in exchange for helping getting a job in McFaul's office as an appraiser, according to the charges.

The information also details how Russo planned to deceive federal investigators who already had evidence that he received $1.2 million in kickbacks in exchange for giving lucrative contracts valued at more than $21 million to a commercial appraisal company.

Hoping to show investigators he had other sources of wealth, he met with an associate at Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine and tried to convince the man to falsely claim he gave Russo $10,000 after Frank Russo Jr. died of cancer 15 years ago.

It's unclear when the federal probe actually began, but it dates back to at least to 2006, which is when the FBI caught Cleveland building inspector Bobby Cuevas taking $4,300 in bribes from an undercover agent.

Cuevas began working with the FBI that summer and helped agents ensnare Steve Pumper, then-chief executive of D-A-S Construction. When Pumper was confronted by agents about a bribe he paid to Cuevas, he surprised them by saying he knew who they really wanted, Dimora and Russo.

Pumper eventually pleaded guilty to bribing public officials, including Dimora, former Parma school board member and county employee J. Kevin Kelley and former Maple Heights school board member Santina "Sandy" Klimkowski.

Kelley and Klimkowski also pleaded guilty to corruption charges and would likely be witnesses against Russo if he went to trial.

Video: Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo's resignation is announced