Mounting Evidence of Criminal Activities by Senior Assistant Ohio Attorney General Dan Kasaris Presented in New Court Filing, Confirmed by Jury Verdict in Mahoning County Criminal Case

 

  • Kasaris implicated in suspicious death of his Office Manager Dawn Pasela, interviewed by Law Enforcement as Person of Interest
  • Kasaris’ Sexual Relationships with government witnesses Kelly Connors, Kathryn Clover & others at issue in criminal cases
  • Kasaris emails detail altering documents in criminal cases and allowing paramours to access evidence inside the prosecutor’s office
  • Knowing use of Kathryn Clover’s perjured testimony mars state and federal criminal cases
  • Kasaris partner in Task Force prosecutions, former federal prosecutor Mark Bennett, facing disbarment proceedings
  • Kasaris’ wife Susan’s Facebook posts confirm his sexual relationships with witnesses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CLEVELAND, OHIO – September 15, 2023 – FreeTonyViola.com announced today that a jury verdict in Ohio v. Keaton, Mahoning County, 2022 CRB 390, and a recent court filing by Tony Viola confirm that Senior Assistant Ohio Attorney General Dan Kasaris perpetrated a fraud on the court by presenting his girlfriends Kelly Connors, Kathryn Clover and others as a “victims” or “witnesses” in criminal cases without disclosing the nature of his relationship with these women to jurors, courts or defense counsel. In addition to a sexual relationship with Kelly Connors, Dan Kasaris also controls her finances through a “Special Needs Trust” and maintains a Power of Attorney over Connors – additional facts that have never been disclosed to the defense or the Court.  In addition to using his position as a prosecutor to solicit sex, Kasaris has also been questioned by law enforcement concerning the suspicious death of his Office Manager turned whistleblower, Dawn Pasela, Viola v. Kasaris, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Case No. CV-21-951041, Court of Appeals No. 23-112497.

Government witness Kathryn Clover had a five year long sexual relationship with Kasaris.  The Justice Department conceded that Clover committed perjury during her testimony in criminal trials.   600 pages of emails between Kasaris and Clover include racist emails, discussions about "massages" and "hand jobs" and also establish that Kasaris himself allowed Clover full access to "tubs" of evidence in criminal cases.  When Clover’s husband Matt Fairfield became aware of the Kasaris-Clover affair and objected, Kasaris had Fairfield arrested and imprisoned.  Later, Clover’s attorney, Jaye Schlachet, admitted that Clover destroyed evidence inside the prosecutor’s office, saying that her “attempt to destroy evidence … was done for the purpose of defending against her own criminal prosecution and not to impede” Viola’s defense, Viola v. Clover, CV-20-936897, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.

Kasaris is also involved in a sexual relationship with government witness Kelly Connors, who Kasaris maintains a power of attorney over and is trustee of her Special Needs Trust – but Kasaris never obtained permission from the Ohio Attorney General to engage in these outside activities.  Connors and Kasaris had a fight in 2020 and separated, at which time Connors began assisting Tony Viola’s investigative team by providing information and written statements to Viola.  Later, Connors began publishing Kasaris emails and posting comments on social media sites about Kasaris and his role in the death of Kasaris Office Manager Dawn Pasela.

Dawn Pasela, 26, was found dead as she was scheduled to testify about misconduct by Kasaris, who directed her to pose as a graduate student studying criminal justice and working with local defense attorneys on similar cases.  Kasaris and his colleague, former federal prosecutor Mark Bennett, ordered Dawn to record a series of post-indictment conversations with Viola so prosecutors could obtain confidential defense trial strategy information. Kasaris and Bennett also directed Dawn to donate funds towards Viola's legal fees so prosecutors could use her cancelled check to identify the law firm's bank account and subpoena its records.  After providing evidence Viola used to gain an acquittal at a second trial, Kasaris and Bennett threatened Dawn with prosecution and imprisonment if she appeared as a defense witness. Earlier this year, Parma Police Chief Joseph Bobak confirmed that he “met with Dan Kasaris yesterday to discuss his background with Dawn Pasela,” while multiple law enforcement agencies have stated a new investigation into Dawn’s death should be launched.  Additional details about what happened to Dawn can be found at www.JusticeForDawn.com.

Mark Bennett was aware of the Kasaris-Clover affair and her perjury but he utilized her as a government witness at trial.  Bennett was fired by the Justice Department for serious misconduct and criminal activities and is currently undergoing disbarment proceedings, Disciplinary Counsel v, Bennett, case number 2022-034; Department of Justice Inspector General Report Number 21-005, Ohio Supreme Court Case Number 2023-0471.  The FBI and Justice Department also blamed Mark Bennett for making material misrepresentations about evidence in the criminal case of Anthony Viola, Viola v. U.S. Department of Justice, et. al., 15-cv-242, WD Pa, document numbers 99 and 164. 

Kasaris paramour Kelly Connors accessed evidence and assisted Kasaris prepare for the trial of former Niles, Ohio Mayor Ralph Infante and testified as a government witness in a criminal case where Kasaris served as a “victim advocate” and assisted the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office, but on September 13, 2023, jurors acquitted the defendant, Ohio v. Keaton, Mahoning County, 2022 CRB 390.  Attorney Peter Pattakos, who defended Tammy Keaton, said, “Thank you to the fine people of Canfield, Ohio, where eight jurors from the community took EIGHT MINUTES to come back with a NOT GUILTY verdict for our client, who is a single mother in her 50s who was being prosecuted for telecommunications harassment.”

Kasaris makes little effort to conceal his affairs with government witnesses, posing for Facebook photos with Connors and entertaining Clover baseball games, local bars in Downtown Cleveland, inviting her to restaurants in nearby Lakewood and to his apartment in North Royalton.  Kasaris helped Clover obtain a scholarship to attend law school for free, but while the United States Attorney’s Office in Cleveland stated in writing that Clover committed perjury while testifying in criminal cases, no prosecutor has ever withdrawn her false testimony at criminal trials, preferring that innocent citizens remain imprisoned.

Local Attorneys Caught Covering Up Kasaris Misconduct -- Attorneys Jaye Schlachet, John Patrick and David Comstock have conceded to the facts set forth here at an evidentiary hearing in the courtroom of Judge John P. O’Donnell, but claimed they had no obligation to report misconduct by Kasaris because of Attorney-Client Privilege, but the recently filed brief in Viola v. Kasaris argues that the crime fraud exception applies to communications between an attorney and client which are “intended in some way to facilitate or to actively conceal a crime or fraud.” Sutton v. Stevens Painton Corp., 193 Ohio App.3d 68, 96, 951 N.E.2d 91 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011).  Courts have repeatedly held that attorney-client privilege may not be asserted to conceal an attorney’s cooperation with the client’s wrongdoing.  These attorneys are aware of the Kasaris-Clover affair, the Kasaris-Connors affair and the illegal undercover operation that led to the death of Dawn Pasela, and now a court will determine whether or not their actions are lawful.

Attorneys Patrick, Comstock and Schlachet are also violation of Ohio Rule of Professional Conduct 8.3(a), “Reporting Professional Misconduct” which provides that “A lawyer who knows that another lawyer has committed a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct that raises a substantial question as to that lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects, shall inform the appropriate professional authorities.”  However, these attorneys show no sign of following their lawful obligations.  According to Attorney John Patrick, the brother of Dan Kasaris, the “police are trying to sweep this under the rug … if they think no one is watching.”

“The question now is how much longer Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost can continue to employ Dan Kasaris as a prosecutor,” said Tony Viola.  “As usual, the best evidence we have of criminal activities by Prosecutors Bennett and Kasaris are their own emails and written communications.  We are once asking the Ohio Attorney General to fire Dan Kasaris and facilitate a proper investigation into his affairs with government witnesses and his actions that caused the death of Dawn Pasela.”

To review court filings, read the Kasaris-Clover emails, view Susan Kasaris’ Facebook posts or read Kelly Connors’ communications and other key documents, please see Viola v. Kasaris, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Case No. CV-21-951041, Court of Appeals No. 23-112497, or please visit the FreeTonyViola.com Evidence Locker.

ABOUT FREETONYVIOLA.COM:  FreeTonyViola.com’s mission is to shine a bright spotlight on the ‘win at all costs’ tactics, prosecutorial overreach and misconduct the United States Department of Justice employs when prosecuting American citizens.  Tony Viola was investigated by the Cuyahoga County Mortgage Fraud Task Force, a multi-jurisdictional task force comprised of state, local and federal agencies, and prosecuted in parallel federal and state cases. He lost the federal case but was exonerated at a subsequent state trial.  The website, originally created to solicit leads for Tony’s investigative team, has evolved into a tool to keep the public informed about critical developments in his case, and to share information that could potentially assist others who have been wrongfully ensnared by our criminal justice system.  For additional information, visit http://www.FreeTonyViola.com, friend us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tony.viola.9212, or follow us on Twitter @TonyViola.

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