A former Dallas official who claimed the Bush Justice Department targeted him for prosecution because he is an African-American Democrat was convicted on bribery charges Monday.
Former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and others were found guilty on charges of pushing through low-income housing projects in a bribery and extortion scheme, according to U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas James T. Jacks. Also convicted was Hill’s wife, Shelia Farrington Hill; Hill’s appointee to the Dallas Plan Commission, D’Angelo Lee; Chairman and CEO of the Black State Employees Association Darren L. Reagan and businessman Rickey Robertson. U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn has yet to schedule a sentencing date.
The Justice Department alleged that, beginning in 2004, the defendants entered into an association in which thousands of dollars in bribes disguised as business contracts were paid by co-defendants Brian L. Potashnik and his wife Cheryl L. Potashnik, owners of Southwest Housing Development Company, Inc. The government also charged that Hill and Lee were involved in illegally soliciting developers for financial benefit.
Jacks released the following statement:
“At the end of the day, the citizens of a community are the ones that ultimately decide what type of government they will have in that community. Whether at the ballot box or, as in this case, through its verdict as a jury, the citizens decide what is expected of their elected officials. Through this lengthy investigation and subsequent trial, the government presented compelling evidence showing that an elected official and many of those non-elected officials working around him, sought to use that position as a means to line their own pockets at the expense of the public. The jury’s verdict today shows that the citizens of this community do not want a government where the game is rigged and the people in positions of power seek to further their own interests before that of the citizens they are supposed to be serving.”
Michael P. Lahey, Dallas Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation, released the following statement:
“The citizens of this community are truly the victims of this crime. They must believe that they can trust the officials they elect to do what is right and this verdict is a validation of that principle. Part of IRS-CI’s mission is to assure these honest taxpayers that everyone must comply with the same laws.”
