CLEVELAND — An East Cleveland Municipal Court worker who was under investigation by the FBI for lying to authorities about being robbed of city money in 2018 has pleaded guilty to a charge in federal court.
The woman, Laura Smith, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to law enforcement, federal court records state.
Investigators said Laura Smith worked as an administrative assistant to Municipal Court Judge William Dawson.
Smith was accused of lying to agents investigating her claims that she was robbed outside an East Cleveland bank in September 2018.
According to a police report, Smith said she was robbed by an unknown man at gunpoint. Investigators say she was getting out of her jeep to make a deposit for the court when the robber took three envelopes containing nearly $18,000 is cash and checks.
But East Cleveland Police say Smith's story didn't match what investigators saw on surveillance video. Because she worked for the court, the case was turned over to the FBI.
East Cleveland Municipal Court didn't comment when asked about Smith's employment status.
Smith will be sentenced on April 1, 2021.
RELATED: East Cleveland employee indicted for allegedly lying to FBI about being robbed
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
