Guilty plea brings prosecutors a step closer to Monica Conyers
Source
Federal prosecutors forged an important link Monday in a City Hall corruption probe that appears to be closing in on Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers.
Rayford Jackson, 44, a flashy wheeler-dealer who frequented the city's political and social circles, often with a stylish anchorwoman on his arm (Fanchon Stinger, why the Detroit Free Press choice to not publish her name is beyond me, professional courtesy?) -- pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery. He worked to win the council's 2007 approval of a $1.2-billion solid-waste disposal contract for Houston-based Synagro Technologies.
(More juicy details of Fanchon's involvement in all this.)
His plea brings prosecutors a step closer to the officials who allegedly accepted bribes. Jackson's former boss, Synagro Vice President James Rosendall Jr., pleaded guilty to bribery charges earlier this year.
Jackson's plea agreement Monday said the courier who passed the bribes will cooperate with the investigation.
Sources confirmed for the Free Press that the courier is Jackson's brother, Lennie. Based on court documents and Free Press sources, prosecutors contend the money trail went from Rosendall to Rayford Jackson to Lennie Jackson to Conyers.
When asked about Conyers' situation, her attorney, Steve Fishman, said he was more concerned about his golf game.
(Yeah I bet, whenever a high profile defense lawyer says ANYTHING you can interpret it as the opposite, this guy just wants to protect his sweet commission he will no doubt earn in the next two years helping old Monica while thwarting true justice at every turn. His parents must be so proud he defends corrupt city officials for a dollar.)
Rayford Jackson won't cooperate with federal investigators in the ongoing City Hall corruption probe. But apparently his younger brother will. Surrounded by bodyguards, Rayford Jackson walked Monday into U.S. District Court in Detroit, where he pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a City Council member -- identified by sources as Monica Conyers -- to approve a $1.2-billion waste disposal contract for Synagro Technologies.
While the plea agreement made reference only to Council Member A, Jackson made reference to multiple officials in court.
"I conspired with others to provide money to elected officials in exchange for favorable votes before the City of Detroit," Jackson, 44, told Judge Avern Cohn.
(BOOM! There it is in black and white, now watch the excuses fly out of Monica's mouth(or if her lawyer can manage to keep her mouth shut from his more learned and silvery tongue then) in the ensuing months, bank on everything from hearsay to prejudice as fodder for her defense.)
(The hilarity continues)
The plea deal unsealed Monday shows that a person named as "Courier A" will provide "truthful and complete cooperation in the investigation and/or prosecution of others" in exchange for not being charged.
A person familiar with the probe said "Courier A" is Lennie Jackson, 38, on parole for a federal drug conviction.
(Sweet!, Bribery, City Officials, TV Hotties, Mayors, Thugs, Drugs...this case has it all. I am writing the movie of the week script even as we speak.)
The plea deal describes four bribe payments Rayford Jackson funneled to Conyers through his brother.
The last two bribes were for $3,000 each. The amount of the first two is not described.
(Your kidding right? A few $3000 grand bribes for her political career? Monica was cheap, she must have been on Blue Light Special.)
(It continues...of course)
Rayford Jackson, wearing a dark suit with rose-colored pin-stripes, declined to comment on his way in and out of court. His plea agreement shows that in 1988 he was placed on probation for 3 years for theft by receiving stolen property.
( I can't even get a job as a greeter at Wal-Mart without a piss test, financial and criminal screening and this guy is hobnobs with city officials? Only in Detroit my friends...only in Detroit.)
"I think it's way past time for us to begin to move towards closing this chapter in the city's history," said Council President Ken Cockrel Jr. "Let's name names, let's get it all out there."
(Damn straight, and just for the record this is whom Detroiters voted OUT of office, way to go Detroit. And what is the new Mayor doing about all this? The one they voted in...Oh yeah...Nothing.)
Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel called the details in the court documents sobering.
(Who pulled nutjob's chain?)
"It truly means there is the likelihood of some member of this council was paid money for a vote," she said. "It's just profoundly disappointing."
Conyers did not attend Monday's meeting of the council's budget committee. That's not unusual; she has missed that panel's meetings for weeks.
Conyers' lawyer Steve Fishman -- reached at a golf charity outing -- shrugged off Jackson's plea.
(Because he gets his fee either way.)
"What concerns me today is that I cannot make a putt all day -- the ball just won't go in," Fishman said.
(Monica must be pleased he is working so hard on her case.)
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