Sr

Convicted ex-chief of staff Michael Smedley’s got a long prison journey ahead of him

YOUNGSTOWN, OH — Convicted federal felon Michael Leon Smedley is currently incarcerated in the Mahoning County Justice Center awaiting his May 5, 2026, sentencing before U.S. District Court Judge Donald C. Nugent. The man who once threatened to hit East Cleveland’s then 70-year-old former Clerk of Council in the head, now wears an orange jumpsuit in a mug shot. Their encounter came after the Clerk of Council told a resident not to pay the illegal automatic traffic camera citations convicted ex-Mayor Brandon King violated a council resolution to keep issuing. Smedley’s white beard is unkempt. His eyes, in the mug…

Read More

Facing 100 years in prison, Al Zubair brothers sabotaged their own defense with secret recordings and ChatGPT

CLEVELAND, OH — Local followers of the federal criminal trial of convicted ex-East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King’s chief of staff, Michael Leon Smedley, have been wondering why it’s taken more than 70 days after his February 20, 2025 superseding indictment to be heard.  His trial with the Al Zubair brothers was originally scheduled for April 14, 2025.  The answer for the delay is found in a docket that details the stall tactics being used by his sibling co-defendants. The two Cleveland brothers, Zubair Mehmet Abdur Razzaq Al Zubair and Muzzammil Muhammad Al Zubair, are each staring at a maximum prison…

Read More