Ernest Smith’s testimony was a crime confession Brandon King asked him not to share

CLEVELAND, OH – Ernest Lamont Smith, 49, doesn’t know how much of a loser he portrayed himself as when he told jurors in his criminal trial that he made his $4500 a year council salary his full-time source of income for four years. That’s $86.53 a week plus an open invitation to join Mayor Brandon King and Michael Smedley at the “all you can steal” buffet. Smith didn’t have a job when King appointed him along with Ricky Pitts, illegally, to serve on the city council in 2017. To protect his investment in his illegal appointees, the racketeering-minded mayor threatened…