Former East Cleveland police chief Kenneth Lundy is now facing a laundry list of criminal charges. On Wednesday, a Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted the onetime top cop on 31 counts that prosecutors say stem from his years inside the East Cleveland Police Department, including alleged bribery, perjury and interference with civil rights.
Prosecutors Lay Out Charges
In a release from the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, prosecutors said the 42-year-old Lundy was charged in a sprawling indictment that includes three counts of bribery, four counts of interfering with civil rights, multiple counts of tampering with records and theft in office. The filing also lists perjury, menacing by stalking, unauthorized database access and alleged misuse of department funds among the charges.
Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley said in the statement, “No one is above the law, especially those who are sworn to uphold it.” The prosecutor’s office said the investigation involved assistance from the FBI’s Cleveland office.
Alleged Witness Manipulation and a Vacated Conviction
Prosecutors allege Lundy developed an intimate relationship with a key witness in the Jamar Forkland homicide investigation and then leveraged that relationship to pressure and influence her testimony. That conduct later helped lead to the vacating of Jerry Sims’s murder conviction, as reported by Ideastream Public Media.
Ideastream previously reported that the witness, Erica Campbell, has since been indicted on one count of perjury. According to prosecutors, Lundy also improperly ran Campbell’s name through law-enforcement databases and lied during a post-conviction investigation into the Sims case.
Bribery, Department Funds and Alleged Falsified Records
The county’s release from the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office outlines several alleged pay-to-play schemes. Prosecutors say Lundy accepted a Chevrolet Tahoe worth about $50,000 in December 2016 in exchange for dropping drug charges, demanded $10,000 in January 2018 to reduce charges in another case, and later in 2018 diverted $3,000 from an East Cleveland Police Department trust account into his own bank account.
According to prosecutors, those incidents form the basis for counts of bribery, falsification and theft in office. The indictment also includes allegations of unauthorized use of law-enforcement computer systems, tampering with records and other abuses of office.
Department Reputation and Past Scrutiny
East Cleveland’s police force has already been under intense scrutiny, with more than a dozen current and former officers indicted in recent years on accusations ranging from excessive force to corruption and a rapid turnover in leadership since 2022. Residents and local officials say the turmoil has badly damaged public trust and made it harder to prosecute serious crimes.
Mayor Lateek Shabazz fired Lundy in July 2025, saying his appointment and promotions violated civil-service rules, according to News 5 Cleveland. Fired for civil service violations, Lundy’s brief tenure at the top of the department became another chapter in East Cleveland’s ongoing struggle to clean up its police ranks.
Next Steps and Legal Notes
Lundy, who prosecutors say was terminated from the department last July, is scheduled to be arraigned at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center at a later date. The prosecutor’s office has declined further public comment while the case is pending.
An indictment is a formal accusation, not proof of guilt. Lundy is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty in court. If he is convicted on felony counts such as bribery, tampering with records or interfering with civil rights, he could face substantial prison time and the loss of any remaining law-enforcement certification. Prosecutors said federal agents assisted with the investigation, and the case will proceed through the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
