CLEVELAND, Ohio — Former Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony charge of tampering with records.
Celebrezze, 54, was charged after filing a fraudulent journal entry related to a 2023 case assignment. Investigators said she claimed she had been randomly assigned to the case but instead assigned it to herself while serving as administrative judge.
Celebrezze was charged Dec. 21, 2025, and resigned from the bench the same day. She will be sentenced at a later date.
She was accused of funneling lucrative divorce cases to her longtime friend, Mark Dottore, and his company, Dottore Cos. LLC, approving nearly $500,000 in fees between 2017 and 2023. Court records show she appointed Dottore or his daughter as receivers in six cases during that time.
In related matters, on December 9, the Cuyahoga County Council approved a $400,000 settlement for former court employee Georgeanna Semary and after Semary alleged witness intimidation and retaliation for providing billing records to The Marshall Project through a public records request. The county also paid $250,000 for Semary’s legal fees in 2024. Semary had worked for the court for 14 years and was a “top aide” to Celebreeze. She was demoted after she released the records to journalists.
The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office handled the case with assistance from the FBI’s Cleveland office.
