Feds charge Detroit official in Synagro probe

Detroit, Mich.-Federal prosecutors have concluded their investigation of the Synagro sludge contract bribery case as it related to the Detroit city council. They brought charges against one of its members, who is president pro tem and also the wife of a Michigan congressman, but have hinted that others may still be on the hook. Monica Conyers subsequently pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court and according to local press reports has resigned from the council. “This conviction marks the conclusion of the government’s investigation of Ms. Conyers and the elected members of the Detroit City Council relating to the approval of the Synagro contract, though the investigation relating to the Synagro contract continues as it relates to others,” stated Terrance Berg, U.S. Attorney for the eastern district of Michigan. Berg, however, didn’t indicate if “others” might include 20 officials with Houston-based Synagro, whose Michigan vice president, James R. Rosendahl, pleaded guilty, and a contractor based in Detroit, Rayford Jackson, who entered a conditional plea on June 15. The sludge contract was rescinded in January in an agreement between Synagro CEO Robert C. Boucher Jr. and Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr., who had been asked by the city council a day after Rosendahl pleaded guilty to bribing city officials to end the $1.2 billion, 25-year contract. Synagro, which has been wholly owned by the international Carlyle Group since 2007, had been working for the Detroit Water and Sewage Dept. to modernize its treatment processes, which had been the source of complaints from residents, as well as the distribution and disposal of biosolid material. In her court plea, Ms. Conyers admitted to misusing her office for personal gain. Specifically, according to the records, Ms. Conyers and an aide received payments from persons who sought contracts, money, and/or favorable treatment from the city council or the pension fund. One example of this was in 2007, when Conyers admitted to receiving cash payments from Rayford Jackson knowing that the payments were made to influence her to vote in favor of the Synagro contract. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.