United States Attorney
Northern District of Ohio

Gregory A. White
United States Attorney

Benita Y. Pearson
Assistant U.S. Attorney
(216) 622-3600

Antoinette T. Bacon
Assistant U.S. Attorney
(216) 622-3600

Brenda Shoemaker
Assistant U.S. Attorney
(216) 622-3600

United States Attorney Gregory A. White (Northern District of Ohio) and United States Attorney Gregory Lockhart (Southern District of Ohio), announce that Clarke T. Blizzard was charged today in Federal District Court in Cleveland, Ohio with conspiring to bribe a public official, Terry Gasper, the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (OBWC). The conspiracy charge was filed by way of an information as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of misconduct involving millions of dollars of OBWC investment funds.

Blizzard, age 53, a Florida resident, is charged with conspiring to bribe Gasper under color of official right, that is giving Gasper things of value in the form of checks totalling approximately $20,000 made payable to Gasper and those close to him, in return for Gasper’s official acts as then CFO of the OBWC. Included among the $20,000 are checks in the amount of $9,005 for “Fall ‘04 Tuition” made payable to the college attended by Gasper’s son and of $2,300 to Gasper’s then girlfriend. In return for the money, Gasper helped businesses that Blizzard was either associated with, employed by, or a representative of to obtain and retain hundreds of millions of dollars worth of OBWC’s investment business or otherwise benefit from such investment business. This resulted in the OBWC paying over $2.5 million in fees and commissions to these businesses.

United States Attorney Gregory White said this of the information filed today, “This information is another chapter in the federal government’s continuing investigation into fraud and corruption surrounding the OBWC. The public must be strongly protected against those who prey on public servants motivated by personal gain.”

In June 2006, Gasper entered a plea of guilty in federal court to an information charging that he conducted the affairs of the OBWC, a legitimate enterprise, through a pattern of illegitimate racketeering activity, by accepting things of value from investment brokers, a dealer and a marketer seeking to obtain and retain lucrative OBWC investment business, in violation of federal RICO laws. Among other racketeering acts incorporated in the RICO charge to which Gasper pled guilty was that Gasper accepted checks from Blizzard, then identified as “Marketer #1”, in exchange for providing favorable treatment to the businesses managing or marketing for the management of OBWC investment dollars with which Blizzard was associated. In addition to the federal RICO charges, Gasper was also charged with money laundering and an ethics violation in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas for his actions related to the bribe payments. Gasper entered pleas of guilty to each of these charges and is awaiting sentencing.

The OBWC manages one of the nation’s largest workers’ compensation funds, with investment assets averaging $19 billion dollars. In his capacity as CFO, Gasper was in a position to exert both formal and informal influence over decisions regarding all financial matters related to the OBWC, including but not limited to, those regarding the selection, retention and funding of investments, investment or money managers and advisors, as well as brokerage firms which administered OBWC’s investment portfolio.

If convicted, Blizzard’s sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and may be less than the maximum. The Court may determine the actual sentence under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which depend upon a number of factors unique to each case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, his role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation.

The investigation is being conducted by a task force of federal, state and local law enforcement officers from the offices of the Inspector General for the State of Ohio; the Ohio State Highway Patrol; the Ohio Ethics Commission; the OBWC Special Investigations Department; the Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Securities; and the Cleveland and Cincinnati Divisions of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as prosecutors from the Franklin and Lucas County Prosecutors’ Offices; the Columbus City Prosecutor’s Office; and the Offices of the United States Attorneys for the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Benita Y. Pearson and Antoinette T. Bacon (NDOH), and Brenda Shoemaker (SDOH).