Another development in the DOJ’s prosecution of individuals under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act took place Thursday, as two former managers of the oil, gas, and power contractor Willbros each were sentenced to slightly more than a year in prison for their roles in the company’s payment of more than $6 million in bribes to government officials from Nigeria.

Jason Edward Steph, 40, received 15 months in prison; Jim Bob Brown, 48, got 12 months and one day. Both had previously pleaded guilty to charges they helped coordinate bribes to Nigerian officials to help the Houston-based Willbros obtain, and retain, the Eastern Gas Gathering System (EGGS) Project, valued at approximately $387 million. Additionally, Brown admitted to his role in another plot to bribe Nigerian revenue officials in exchange for reduced federal and state tax obligations.

Also, Brown admitted to making at least $300,000 in corrupt payments to Ecuadorian government officials affiliated with PetroEcuador and PetroCommercial,in order to obtain and retain business, including the Proyecto Santo Domingo project.

“I allowed myself to be influenced by the corrupt nature of the international business community. It’s no excuse,â€� Brown told U.S. District Judge Simeon T. Lake III, as reported by The Houston Chronicle.

“I didn’t know how wrong it was, but I knew it was wrong,â€� added Steph.

Meanwhile, U.S. citizen Kenneth Tillery, the former president of Willbros International, remains a fugitive in Nigeria, and Nigeria remains a hotbed of corruption.

Former Eastern District of Michigan Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino will represent a former state representative embroiled in a Michigan bribery scandal, The Detroit Free Press reported this afternoon.

Convertino will defend former state Rep. Mary Waters. Waters and political consultant Sam Riddle were charged with paying a $12,500 bribe to a Southfield councilman to receive approval to relocate and expand a pawnshop. Riddle also faces charges in connection with a case that snared former Detroit City Council member Monica Conyers, wife of House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.).

Monica Conyers pleaded guilty last month with taking bribes to vote in favor of a $1.2 billion waste disposal contract for Synagro Technologies. Riddle, a former aide to Monica Conyers, is also charged in the Synagro matter. Read our previous post on Monica Conyers here.

Convertino received national media attention for his handling of a 2003 terrorism trial, which prompted a DOJ ethics investigation into whether he committed misconduct. Two of the defendants in the case were found guilty, but their convictions were overturned. The former federal prosecutor was acquitted in 2007 of conspiring to hide evidence in the case. We previously reported that he is suing the DOJ to find out who leaked the news of the ethics investigation.

A Deputy United States Marshal was convicted yesterday in federal court of providing a firearm and ammunition to someone convicted of, and under indictment for, a felony, and one count of perjury for lying about the matter before a federal grand jury, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Ralph J. Marra announced in a news release, reproduced below:

Antoine Dobson, 29, of Irvington, a Deputy U.S. Marshal assigned to the Southern District of New York, provided his semi-automatic handgun, fully loaded with hollow-point bullets, to Larry Langforddavis, 33, of Hillside, who is a previously convicted felon and who, at the time, was under indictment for multiple additional felonies, including gun and drug charges. Dobson purchased the semi-automatic handgun by certifying on United States Marshals Service letterhead that it was to be used for “official use� only and that he would not transfer it to anyone else.

The trial began with testimony on June 29 before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan. The jury returned its verdict following deliberations yesterday and today. Judge Sheridan scheduled sentencing for Nov. 2.

In January of last year, Langforddavis, a close friend of Dobson, was arrested in the parking lot of an Elizabeth adult entertainment club for the possession of Dobson’s handgun after police officers with the Elizabeth Police Department recognized him as an individual who had days earlier misrepresented himself as a law enforcement officer to the police officers by showing them a handgun strapped to his ankle. Langforddavis is charged in a separate indictment with the unlawful possession of the weapon. That indictment alleges Langforddavis is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition due to his past criminal convictions on charges that include aggravated assault, robbery, and unlawful possession of a handgun. His trial is currently scheduled for Nov. 9.

Dobson faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for the firearms charge; the maximum statutory penalty for perjury is five years and a $250,000 fine. Under the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which a sentencing judge must consult in determining a sentence, Dobson faces a potential prison sentence of between 27 and 33 months. The Sentencing Guidelines, however, are advisory only, and Judge Sheridan will have discretion in imposing a sentence within or outside of that range.

Marra credited Special Agents of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, N.Y. Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Tomlinson, the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun, in Newark, and the U.S. Marshals Service for the Southern District of N.Y., under the direction of Marshal Joseph R. Guccione, and the U.S. Marshals Service for the District of N.J., under the direction of Marshal James T. Plousis, with investigation of the case.

Marra also credited the Elizabeth and Fanwood Police Departments for their assistance.

The case was tried by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas R. Calcagni of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division, and Zahid N. Quraishi of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Government Fraud Unit.

Monica Conyers

A paralegal at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit has been suspended due to suspicions that she leaked confidential information to Monica Conyers’s former chief of staff Sam Riddle, while he was under criminal investigation, reports the Detroit News.

When asked by telephone whether she was still working as a paralegal in the U.S. Attorney’s special prosecutions unit, Wendolyn Greene responded with a curt “no,” and hung up the phone.

When the paper called U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Gina Balaya to find out more, they were told “We had an employee by that name; I don’t know her status.”  Balaya later called the paper back to clarify, saying that Greene “is still an employee of this office.”  But beyond that, “we can’t discuss her status at all,” she said.

The controversy came around the time that Synagro Technologies Inc.’s bribery scandal became public, which was about a year ago.  Greene has been dating Riddle, and federal officials suspected that Greene leaked information regarding an ongoing federal investigation, the paper’s source said.

One source told the paper that officials suspected that Greene told Riddle about a search of someone’s home that was part of a Detroit City Hall investigation. The investigation of Greene is being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Grand Rapids in order to avoid any conflict of interest, sources told the paper.

To read our report on the Synagro Technologies Inc. bribery scandal, click here.  To read about John Conyers has become implicated in the scandal click here.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) has been implicated in the corruption scandal involving his wife Detroit City Council member Monica Conyers, reports The Detroit Free Press.

Monica Conyers (U.S. Marshals)

As in any alleged bribery scheme, it’s a little convoluted.  But here goes: Monica Conyers’s former chief of staff Sam Riddle told the paper that John Conyers’s congressional office drafted a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency on behalf of a company that is now accused of making an indirect kickback to the congressman’s wife.

We reported earlier today that Conyers has submitted her resignation to the city clerk’s office, after pleading guilty to bribery last week.

Terrence G. Berg (USDOJ)

While Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Terrence Berg says that ”We didn’t have any evidence the congressman was knowingly or intentionally involved in Ms. Conyers’ illegal conduct,” Riddle’s claims certainly raise some red flags.  Riddle says that Monica Conyers got him a consulting job with entrepreneur Dimitrios (Jim) Papas in 2007.  The job paid $20,000, out of which Riddle claims he gave Monica Conyers $10,000 in cash as a finder’s fee.

As Riddle told the Free Press:

“While I felt it was a bit exorbitant, it didn’t feel that bad given the workload, which was nil,” Riddle said, adding, “It was clear he was dealing with me because of Monica, not because of any special skill set he was hoping to gain with me.”

One of Papas’ companies, Environmental Geo-Technologies (EGT), needed federal approval for an agreement to operate the Romulus hazardous waste injection wells for Detroit’s Police and Fire Retirement System.  Riddle told the Free Press that John Conyers sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency on Papas’ behalf to make sure the agreement went through.  As proof, Riddle provided a draft of the letter, which a staffer in John Conyers’ office sent to his wife’s office with a cover page saying ”Draft Letter for approval.”  The letter, which Riddle says was generated by his boss, is identical to the final letter that was sent to the EPA.

The letter starts off by noting that the EPA had terminated the permits necessary to operate the injection wells, which may “constitute a denial of EGT’s due process rights.”  It then goes on to note that “it is my undertanding” that all noncompliance issues have been resolved and that EGT is very committed to the project.  The EPA ultimately rejected Conyers’s request.

While contacting a federal agency regarding a matter in which he had a financial interest would be a clear violation of House ethics rules, it is unclear if the congressman knew about any alleged financial connection between his wife and Papas.

Congressman John Conyers receiving visitors from Detroit (house.gov)

The Free Press also included these “additional facts” at the end of the article:

The Detroit police and fire pension fund’s investment in a star-crossed Romulus deep-injection well project is one of several troubling deals involving the city’s public pensions.

In a series of investigations, the Free Press has revealed that the city’s two pension funds — one for police and fire, the other for general city employees — have:

• Lost more than $2 billion, 30% of their value, during an 18-month period ending in December.

• Lost about $90 million on three bad deals alone in 2008 in which warning signs appeared to be obvious.

• Spent $380,000 in the past year for pension trustees, staffers and lawyers to travel the globe to attend conferences, including one trustee who spent more than $100,000.

In the Romulus project, the police and fire fund invested more than $42 million in the wells, which are widely opposed by Romulus and surrounding communities. The fund has written off $32 million of that debt, and put the wells’ value at $10 million.

Leaders of faith based organizations across North Texas have sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on behalf of former Mayor Pro Tem of the city of Dallas Don Hill, reports the Dallas Observer.

Hill has repeatedly claimed that he was subjected to prosecution by the Bush-led Justice Department because he is African American and a Democrat.  The case against Hill involves taking bribes to push through low-income housing projects.  In July of last year, his attorney Ray Jackson filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds that the Hill’s prosecution was political, excerpt below:

It appears that Mr. Hill and his co-defendants have been singled out for criminal prosecution because the U.S. Attorney’s Office has targeted them because of their politics or because of their race. If the stories written about the Justice Department over the past year have shown anything, they have shown that federal prosecutors often targeted people because of political and other inappropriate reasons. Given that the so-called illegal conduct – promoting business interests of contractors and consultants among public officials who are allowed to have business careers – is engaged in by lots of people, including white public officials on the Dallas City Council, but only the black public officials have been charged, there is reason to question how that selection was made.

The prosecution in this case raises at least the appearance of improper selection, including charging only minorities for more widespread behavior and targeting those of an opposite political party who only recently have been able to make elective gains. While government oppression of political opponents and minorities is a lot more subtle that when states passed Jim Crow laws, it has now become clear that, at least in this Administration, it is completely proper to question the motives behind why certain cases are brought.

Although more than a century has passed since the ratification of the Civil Rights Amendments, black Americans still have not been widely elected to political office in the State of Texas. Mr. Hill is part of a group of black men and women in this State who have sought to change this.1 The Republican Party, which counts but a few black Texans among its members, has held a virtual lock on the political process in Texas for the past two decades. The Democratic Party, however, is emerging from exile and members of the black community, including Mr. Hill, have been at the forefront of that movement. Indeed, Democrats now hold a majority of the seats on the Dallas City Council and, but for this prosecution, Mr. Hill would have been able to run a much more successful campaign for Mayor this last year.

You can find Hill’s bio here.

John Conyers

Detroit City Council member Monica Conyers, the wife of House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.), is in talks to resolve a bribery allegation against her, reports The Detroit Free Press. But it won’t happen today, the paper adds.

Detroit businessman Rayford Jackson filed court documents yesterday admitting to bribing a council member in 2007 to gain approval for a $1.2-billion waste disposal contract for Synagro Technologies.  People familiar with the matter previously told The Freep that the council member Jackson allegedly bribed is Monica Conyers.  Jackson’s plea agreement revealed that his younger brother Lennie Jackson is cooperating with federal authorities.  This is particularly damning given that federal authorities believe that Lennie delivered thousands of dollars in bribes, sometimes directly, to Conyers and her former chief of staff, Sam Riddle.

Monica Conyers

The feds’ offer to Monica Conyers is she’ll avoid indictment and a public trial if she cops a plea, The Freep says. Conyers is reportedly angling to plea to a misdemeanor, not a felony. Riddle has not yet cut a deal with federal authorities, but has reportedly been offered one in which he would plead guilty to tax evasion and bribery.  When asked for comment on his dealings with the investigators, Riddle responded:

“The public deserves to know the truth about the behavior of their elected officials. At the appropriate time, I will speak the truth and let the chips fall where they may, no matter the consequences to myself.”

Ken Cockrel Jr.

Council President Ken Cockrel Jr. has said he wants the charges brought before August, which is when the primary vote for council members is held.  ”Clearly, there is obvious corruption. … I’m concerned about this cloud that hangs over all of our heads,” said Councilman Kwame Kenyatta.

John Conyers and a lawyer for Monica Conyers, Steve Fishman, declined to comment, The Freep reported.

On a weekly TV show she hosts, Monica Conyers called herself a “child of God” and said viewers who weren’t praying for her were “just adding to the problem,” The Freep reported.

“I’m not going to talk to you today, tomorrow, next week,” she told reporters from the Free Press and Associated Press as she exited the back door of the Highland Park station that hosts her TV show.

With that, Conyers put on sunglasses, climbed into a silver Ford Crown Victoria, and was driven away.