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Defendants Charged in Wide-Ranging
Racketeering and Extortion Scheme
WASHINGTON,
D.C. (FBI) — Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray of
the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Gregory A. White of the Northern
District of Ohio, and U.S. Attorney Michael T. Shelby of the Southern
District of Texas announced the unsealing of a 45-count indictment
charging six defendants in a wide-ranging public corruption and
fraud scheme, including charges of conspiracy to commit racketeering
(RICO), extortion and mail and wire fraud in furtherance of the
corrupt activity.
The indictment
by a federal grand jury in Cleveland, Ohio, charges: Nate Gray,
47, of Orange Village, Ohio; Joseph Jones, 36, of Cleveland, Ohio;
Richard Teamor, 58, of Aurora, Ohio; Monique McGilbra, 41, of
Houston, Texas; Brent Jividen, 42, of Medina, Ohio; and Gilbert
Jackson, 58, of New Orleans, Louisiana with, among other things,
providing numerous things of value, including money and luxury
items, that were provided to public officials in return for official
acts.
The charges
in the indictment span multiple states and set forth in detail
a wide range of corrupt activity. Specifically, the indictment
charges that Nate Gray, who operated his business in a Shaker
Square office; Brent Jividen, who worked in the Cleveland office
of a New Jersey company that pursued public contracts; and Gilbert
Jackson, who is a senior vice president of an international engineering
firm, conspired to violate racketeering laws from at least the
mid-1990s to the present.
It further
charges that these three, along with Cleveland City Councilman
Joseph Jones, Cleveland area lawyer and businessman Ricardo Teamor,
and Monique McGilbra, who headed the Building Services Department
for the City of Houston, Texas, committed numerous acts of extortion
and deprived the public of the honest services of its public officials,
using the mails and telephones to further their scheme.
Oliver Spellman,
the former chief of staff to the former Mayor of Houston; Emmanuel
Onunwor, the former Mayor of East Cleveland, Ohio, who was convicted
this summer on 22 counts of corruption related activity; and Garland
Hardeman, a former California elected official who pleaded guilty
to federal charges in the Central District of California, are
also discussed in the indictment as part of what is termed the
"Gray enterprise."
A few
examples of the extortion payments to public officials alleged
and described in the indictment are:
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Numerous cash payments that Gray made to Onunwor that were the
subject of Onunwor’s own trial and convictions in the summer
of 2004;
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A $2,000 cash payment by Gray to Spellman that was covered by
Spellman’s guilty plea last month;
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Two football-related trips that Gray and Jividen provided to
McGilbra, including a $4,500 weekend trip to the 2002 NFL Super
Bowl in New Orleans for McGilbra and her boyfriend, who were
entertained by Jackson on their arrival;
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A $700 Louis Vuitton purse that McGilbra selected for herself
and Gray purchased for her;
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A dinner costing nearly $1,000 that Gray purchased for McGilbra
and her family in Miami Beach, Florida, as well as limousine
service; and
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The $5,000 interest-free loan by Gray and Teamor to Jones that
was the subject of Jones’ earlier indictment and at least one
other payment.
In addition
to the RICO conspiracy, extortion and fraud charges, Gray is also
charged with evading payment of over $1.5 million in back taxes
due and owed the United States during the same period as he ran
his corrupt racketeering enterprise in the indictment. The taxes
due are a result of the determination of Gray’s tax liability
following his conviction for tax evasion for the years 1982, 1983
and 1984, on or about Dec. 13, 1990.
The current
maximum potential penalties for conspiracy to commit racketeering
(RICO) in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1962(d),
extortion, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section
1951, and honest services mail and wire fraud, in violation of
Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1341, 1343 and 1346 are
20 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised
release following any period of incarceration for each count of
conviction. The criminal tax count carries a five-year statutory
maximum penalty of imprisonment.
"The
indictment unsealed today demonstrates the importance that the
Department of Justice has placed on combating all forms of public
corruption," said Assistant ttorney General Wray. "This
investigation, which combined the resources of the Justice Department,
U.S. Attorney’s offices and other federal investigative agencies,
has uncovered a nationwide web of alleged racketeering, extortion
and official corruption."
United States
Attorney Gregory White said this of the indictment filed: "This
indictment is another major step in a joint, ongoing investigation.
Multi-jurisdictional investigations such as this are extremely
complex and time consuming. At the same time, the harm caused
to communities by widespread public corruption demands that investigations
be pursued aggressively. We will continue to follow this investigation
wherever and to whomever the facts may lead. I would like to compliment
the FBI, the IRS, the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal
Division of the Department of Justice, and the United States Attorney’s
Office in Houston for their outstanding work on this case."
"Today’s
indictment demonstrates the national scope of our commitment to
confront allegations of corruption at all levels of government,"
said Michael Shelby, United States Attorney for the Southern District
of Texas. "We will continue to work closely with our colleagues
in Cleveland to ensure that this matter is fully and fairly prosecuted."
"The
charges in this indictment cover a wide variety of public corruption
and fraud schemes," said Gary Klein, Acting Special Agent
in Charge of the Cleveland Division of the FBI. "While the
vast majority of public officials are honest and maintain high
ethical standards it is unfortunate that certain individuals who
are elected or appointed to serve the public chose only to serve
themselves. Abuse of the public trust cannot and must not be tolerated."
"Criminal
Investigation concentrates its resources on the tax and money
laundering aspects of these investigations in cooperation with
other federal law enforcement agencies. Our expertise in conducting
financial investigations has helped to establish our reputation
as one of the leaders in the fight against corrupt public officials.
When an IRS Special Agent is successful in following the money
trail, often a tax liability and a trial are waiting at the end,"
said Vince Williams, Special Agent in Charge of the Cleveland
Field Office of the IRS, Criminal Investigation.
The case is
being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Steven M.
Dettelbach and Benita Y. Pearson, with the assistance of Trial
Attorney Mary K. Butler of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity
Section, headed by Section Chief Noel L. Hillman.
An indictment
is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is
entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s
burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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