Overview
- Zubair and Muzzammil Al Zubair were sentenced Tuesday to 24 and 23 years in prison, and former East Cleveland chief of staff Michael Smedley received just over eight years.
- After a two-week trial, a federal jury convicted all three of bribery and honest-services fraud conspiracies and a Hobbs Act conspiracy, with the brothers also found guilty of wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of government funds, plus a tax offense for Zubair.
- Prosecutors said the brothers posed as ultra-wealthy insiders from 2020 to 2023 while Smedley used city letterhead, police badges, and an “International Economic Advisor” title to lend their ventures false legitimacy.
- One scheme took about $17.8 million from a Chinese investor through a fake plan to launch a crypto business at a complex they did not own, and another cost a woman from the UAE $737,000.
- Prosecutors said the proceeds funded private jet trips, luxury cars and watches, and even a gold-plated AK‑47‑style rifle, and the court ordered $21 million in restitution as the men prepare their appeals.