Three former East Cleveland police officers were sentenced to prison time for crimes committed while on duty, including felonious assault, tampering with evidence and telecommunications fraud.
The former officers, Commander Larry McDonald, also known as “PAC-MAN,” Sgt. Anthony Holmes and Det. Ian McInnes were all found guilty following jury trials in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in 2024 and 2025.
“These officers betrayed the public’s trust, and my office will continue to work to restore that trust for the residents of East Cleveland,” said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley in a press release announcing the sentence.
It's the latest development in a years-long string of incidents and scandals that have included criminal wrongdoing and accusations of inappropriate behavior and abuse within the East Cleveland police department.
Between August of 2022 and March of 2023, 16 East Cleveland officers were indicted for crimes committed on the job. Two more were indicted in February. Two police chiefs have left office in the past three years — one following an indictment on tax charges and the other following the release of racist text messages on his phone.
The current acting chief, Kenneth Lundy, is facing accusations of an inappropriate relationship with a witness in a murder trial while he was a detective and lead investigator in the case. A hearing is scheduled later this month to determine whether the conviction in that case should be overturned.
McDonald received a four-year prison sentence and a permanent suspension of his Ohio policing certification. In January, a jury convicted McDonald of tampering with records, tampering with evidence, telecommunications fraud, all felonies, and obstructing official business and dereliction of duty for two vehicle pursuits.
On March 25, 2022, during an attempted traffic stop, McDonald chased a 20-year-old male into Euclid without alerting other officers of the pursuit. The driver crashed into multiple vehicles and died. Following another chase into Cleveland on March 12, 2023, McDonald left the scene when the driver crashed into a bus stop shelter. McDonald did not report his involvement in the pursuit.
Holmes was sentenced to one year in prison and also had his Ohio policing license permanently suspended.
On Oct. 3, 2021, also after a vehicle pursuit, Holmes struck the other driver’s vehicle and then instructed another officer to lie and tell dispatch that the driver’s vehicle struck his car. Holmes was also involved in the March 25, 2022 incident with McDonald. Following the crash, he informed McDonald Cleveland Police were investigating the incident and did not tell police McDonald had been involved.
McInnes was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison and permanently surrendered his Ohio policing license.
McInnes was involved in three separate incidents in 2020, 2021 and 2022, when he kicked people who were surrendering to police and posed no threat to officers in the ribs, back and groin.
