S2 Ep138: That’s So Cincinnati: Former federal prosecutor weighs in on P.G. Sittenfeld verdict

You think you were surprised at everything you heard in the P.G. Sittenfeld trial?

So was the guy who oversaw the public corruption investigation into the former Cincinnati city councilman and other Ohio politicians. And David DeVillers was part of a team of prosecutors who helped convict Saddam Hussein on war crimes and genocide. 

"The biggest thing coming into becoming the U.S. Attorney ... it wasn't the murders and the terrorism and the cartels, it was the corruption that was the biggest surprise for me," DeVillers, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, told "That's So Cincinnati" podcast.

DeVillers left the U.S. Attorney's office in February 2021 with the change in the White House. But the Columbus resident kept close tabs on the Sittenfeld trial, which ended last week with the Democrat being convicted of bribery and attempted extortion.

DeVillers declined to answer specific questions about the investigation because it overlaps with cases that have not yet come to trial – and he's no longer in office. DeVillers, who in 2020 said Cincinnati City Hall had a "culture of corruption," declined to discuss why the investigation that ultimately led to Sittenfeld's arrest happened.

But DeVillers, originally hired as an assistant federal prosecutor during President George W. Bush's administration, talked about the big picture when it comes to the federal government cracking down on corrupt politicians.

"That's one of the FBI's highest priorities," DeVillers said.

These days, DeVillers is a partner in the Columbus office of national law firm Barnes & Thornburg. He's working as a technical adviser for the producers of the popular Showtime show "Billions," a drama about power and politics. DeVillers also is an adjunct instructor at Ohio State's Moritz College of Law.