ELYRIA — When Randall Gordon was sent to prison last year, he was wearing a shirt and tie and was clean-shaven.

When the 67-year-old former president of a Cleveland architectural firm returned to county Common Pleas Court for a judicial release hearing on Wednesday, he wore a green prison uniform and a beard.

His appearance changed during the six months he spent in prison for his role in a bribery scandal that has led to the indictment of former county Commissioner Michael Ross and others who worked on the county Justice Center. On Wednesday, he was granted judicial release — meaning he won’t have to serve the remainder of his three-year sentence.

Kenneth Lieux, one of Gordon’s attorneys, acknowledged that prison wasn’t easy on his client.

“He served his time, it was hard, and he’s looking forward to putting it all behind him,” Lieux said.

Gordon cut a deal with prosecutors, agreeing to testify against Ross and others facing charges in the case. He also paid the county $420,000 to repay the money he allegedly gave to Ross and to cover the cost of the investigation.

In exchange, prosecutors agreed not to oppose his early release from prison.

Elyria businessman Larry Jones, whom prosecutors say funneled money from Justice Center contractors to Ross, also agreed to work with prosecutors and took a plea deal. He is serving time on both the county charges and on federal bank fraud charges.

County Prosecutor Dennis Will said the Ross case has dragged on a long time — Ross was first indicted in 2005 — and he’s hoping a pretrial set for next week will move the remaining cases forward.

“I’m hoping the next step will be to set a trial date or do something on that,” Will said.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.

 

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