In a case that highlights the grim realities of public corruption, Sinera Unique Jones, also known as Sinera McCoy, from Cleveland, has been sentenced to a term of three years on probation, which includes two months of home detention, after her April plea of guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services fraud alongside an elected official, court records reveal. As part of the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko also ordered Jones to pay $143,598.47 in restitution for her part in defrauding local nonprofits, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio. Jones, who is 46 years old, collaborated with Basheer Jones, 40, a former Cleveland city councilman for Ward 7 and her romantic partner at the time, to exploit nonprofits for their personal financial gain between December 2018 and June 2021.
Using her supposed consulting business as a front, Sinera Jones funneled money intended for Ward 7 revitalization efforts into personal bank accounts, misleading community organizations to believe they were investing in the area’s development; instead the fund-lined pockets of herself and Basheer Jones who also received his sentencing earlier this year in April and will serve 28 months followed by three years of supervised release, and their schemes included convincing a local nonprofit to hire Sinera Jones for outreach and negotiating under-the-table property deals, the U.S. Department of Justice reported.
Through these fraudulent arrangements, the pair succeeded in siphoning over $140,000 from the pockets of nonprofits, under the pretense of Ward 7 community projects. In one instance, a nonprofit was induced by Basheer Jones to hire Sinera, who essentially did minimal work while billing through her consulting firm for significant amounts. In another fraudulent transaction, Sinera acquired a distressed property for just $1, only to resell it to a nonprofit for $45,000, neither paying for the demolition costs nor revealing her financial ties with Basheer Jones…