CLEVELAND FORMER JUDGE WHOBEATWIFE HIREDBYCITY

Man gets business development job in Cleveland.

A former CLEVELAND — Cuyahoga County judge who served time in prison for beating his wife has been hired by the the administration of Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson.

According to a local television station, LanceMason was hired as the city’s director of minority business development.

Mason, a former state representative and state senatorwho laterwas a judge in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court for seven years, served 9 months in prison following his 2015 conviction oncharges of attempted felonious assault and domestic violence.

Mason admitted to the charges.

A spokesman for Jackson declined Tuesday to answer questions from media outlets.

In August 2014, Mason was accused of punching his wife 20 times with a closed fist while in their car and smashing her head against the car’s center console five times. The couple’s children were in the back of the car when the attack occurred.

Aisha Mason needed reconstructive surgery on her face to recover from a broken orbital bone. She filed for divorce two days after the incident.

Mason was sentenced to two years in prison in September 2015 by visiting Judge Patricia Cosgrove. Hewas to be on probation for three years after his release.

Cosgrove, a retired Summit County judge, granted a motion for early release on June 27, 2016. He served nine months in prison.

Mason is barred by law from ever being a judge again.

The Ohio State Bar Association sought to haveMason disbarred in 2016. The Ohio Supreme Court’s Board of ProfessionalConduct agreed and recommended that action.