In August 2016, Gaul denied a defendant’s request for continuance and threatened to punish the defendant if he denied a plea deal, stating he would be given a prison sentence of potentially three times as long as the 14-year plea if convicted, according to the complaint.
The appellate court found “there is no question that the judge’s participation in the plea process could have led [the defendant] to believe he could not get a fair trial or fair sentence after trial” vacating the plea and reversing the judgement. The defendant was tried before a jury and a different judge and was acquitted of all charges, according to the complaint.
The conviction and sentence were vacated by the appellate court. On remand, the defendant entered a plea and was sentenced to time served and $3,500 in restitution to the victim.Two counts of an 18-count indictment in 2016 were tried before Gaul, who found the defendant guilty of both. The remaining 16 went to trial by jury, which found the defendant guilty of one count and acquitted of the other 15 counts.
Gaul sentenced the defendant to 18 months on the two charges brought before his court and 36 months on the charge the jury found guilty, to run consecutively. He also fined the defendant to prevent people from putting money in his prison account, according to the complaint. Gaul did not issue the CSPO but gave instructions to file another petition if any other incidents occur, stating he would sign a civil stalking and protecting order against her husband, a Cleveland police officer, which would cause him “to lose his job, because he won’t be able to carry a firearm,” according to Gaul in the complaint.A former real estate broker convicted of 35 counts of fraud by a federal jury was sentence to 12.
It's about time