CUYAHOGA COUNTY, OH (WOIO) -
Disgraced former County Auditor Frank Russo reported to Federal Prison today, more than 4 years after the raids on his and other county officers. Right now Russo doesn't know how long he'll be locked up.
The Federal Bureau of Prison's web site lists Frank Russo as "in transit". That means he is in the Bureau's custody and most likely in a reception center before going to his permanent location in Loretto Pennsylvania 90 miles east of Pittsburgh.
"I regret what I have done, I'm very truly sorry for what I've done with my heart but if you look back there is nothing I can do," Frank Russo said on the day he was sentenced.
When Frank Russo was called to court in October to be sentenced, he hoped to hear that his prison time had been reduced because of his cooperation.
Instead Federal Judge Sarah Lioi ordered him locked up, giving him four weeks to get ready. Russo had been kept out so he could testify against others, chiefly his partner in many crimes, Jimmy Dimora.
But there were growing complaints that others like Dimora were sent off immediately but Russo remained free. hearing the growing chorus, Federal prosecutors ask for him to begin his sentence, which right now is 22 years and 8 months.
"What I can do is make a difference in the future. I'm gonna take positive steps forward to try to touch people's live to make life better," Russo said.
His future will be behind bars. Whether or not his singing like a bird will make him ever free as a bird will be taken up after the first of the year when all of his testimony is over.
He'll be back in the area after the holidays. But it will be in prison garb as he testifies against Anthony O. Calabrese III.
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Frank Russo
