http://www.freep.com/article/20090626/NEWS01/90626024/Conyers+convicted+of+conspiracyDetroit City Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers pleaded guilty this morning to conspiring to commit bribery and is free on personal bond.
U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn said, "The defendant now stands convicted."
The one count of conspiring to commit bribery is punishable for up to five years in prison.
No sentencing date has been set and it is not immediately clear if the plea deal requires Conyers to cooperate with the feds in the ongoing probe of city corruption.
Conyers, the wife of powerful Democratic congressman U.S. Rep. John Conyers, appeared before Cohn to answer charges in connection with the wide-ranging probe of wrongdoing at Detroit city hall.
She has long been under suspicion in the Synagro bribery probe, not least because she had been a vocal opponent of the contract before suddenly switching her sentiments. She became the deciding voice in the city council’s 5-4 vote to approve the sludge-hauling deal in November 2007.
While Judge Cohn pronounced Conyers convicted, Detroit attorney Bill Goodman said his understanding is that she is not convicted or compelled to leave office until she is sentenced.
Goodman, who represented the City Council in its fight to oust ex-mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, said the city charter requires a council member to step down “the minute he or she is convicted of a felony. In federal court, that process is complete at the sentencing.â€
No resignation letter has been submitted by Conyers to Detroit City Council as of this morning, according to the council clerk’s office, Council President Ken Cockrel Jr.’s office, and council’s legal office.
The federal plea document released today cites two instances in late 2007, in the days surrounding the approval of the now-infamous Synagro Technologies sludge-hauling contract, when Conyers accepted cash bribes from a Synagro consultant. (more at link)
SHOCKING!!!!!!!!!
