Courruption trial in Dallas for officials accepting bribes
From Sunshine Review
July 22, 2009 Former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and his four co-defendants go to trial today in a public corruption case that charges them with pressuring a low-income housing developer to pay bribes.[1]
[edit] Low-income housing
One of Texas' most prominent low-income housing developers, Brian Potashnik, is expected to testify as he is a key player in the public corruption case. The case is about how Hill and others pressured him and another developer to choose between paying city officials and a fail to win approval of their southern Dallas apartment projects.
Four years ago, when the FBI sought cooperation from Potashnik and his wife, Cheryl, they turned them down.
James R. "Bill" Fisher was another developer targeted by the city officials refused to pay bribes and agreed to become a government informant, wearing a wire.
During Tuesday's trial, jurors heard from Dallas city attorneys testifying that Hill asked for legal opinions about his dealings with developers.
Prosecutors displayed to jurors Hill's 2004 financial disclosure form. In it a reference to his mistress-turned-wife, Sheila Farrington Hill, was blacked out. The defense attorneys commented that Hill made a paperwork error and corrected it there.[1]
[edit] The trail
Potashnik is expected to explain why he agreed to hire Farrington at more than $170,000 a year as a consultant. Prosecutors have suggested that she did no real work.
The government says Farrington's business was a sham created to direct money from Potashnik to Hill, the first example of which being $14,000 days before Hill helped some of Potashnik's projects get City Council approval.
Defense attorneys deny any improper influence by Hill over Potashnik or that he took bribes from him.
On the morning of June 20, 2005, agents went to see the Potashniks and asked them to cooperate in the corruption investigation before they went public or serve search warants. At this point, the FBI had strong evidence, gathered through wiretaps, that the Potashniks had paid bribes to Hill and Lee.
That afternoon, officials served warrants at Hill's City Hall office and other places around the city.
The Potashniks were charged along with Hill and about a dozen others in fall of 2007.
The Potashniks maintained their innocence for nearly two years. Cheryl Potashnik signed her plea deal 11 days before trial began last month, which caps her sentence at 16 months. Brian Potashnik waited until June 21 and signed a deal for a maximum prison sentence of about 3 ½ years.[1]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
| |||||||
