" Ex-mayor of Charlotte pleads guilty to soliciting and accepting bribes" New York Times Syndicate June 04, 2014
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Former mayor Patrick D. Cannon pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal corruption charge, a blow to the city’s reputation as a beacon of clean governance.
Cannon, a Democrat who resigned his office hours after his arrest in March, pleaded guilty to a single count of honest services wire fraud as part of an agreement with federal prosecutors. The charge carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years, although it is likely that he will serve a shorter sentence. A sentencing date was not announced.
There is nothing hone$t in AmeriKa's $y$tem anymore.
“Much has been given to me in the way of the public’s trust,” Cannon said Tuesday morning after an appearance before a federal magistrate judge here. “I regret having acted in ways that broke that trust. For that, I am deeply sorry.”
Cannon’s decision to plead guilty was widely expected after weeks passed after his arrest without word of an indictment, prompting speculation that the former mayor was working toward a deal that would reduce his legal exposure.
By mid-May, court records show, Cannon and the authorities had reached an agreement, the details of which were sealed until Monday, when federal prosecutors described a plot to “defraud and deprive the citizens of Charlotte and the government of Charlotte of their right to Cannon’s honest and faithful services through bribery and the concealment of material information.”
The court filing said that Cannon solicited and accepted bribes, including payments from the owner of an adult club whose business was threatened by the planned extension of Charlotte’s light rail system.
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FLASHBACK:
"Charlotte mayor facing corruption charges" Associated Press March 27, 2014
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A city spokesman says Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon has resigned effective immediately just hours after he was charged with federal public corruption and bribery.
Keith Richardson says Cannon submitted his letter Wednesday to the city manager and attorney.
The 47-year-old Cannon is accused of accepting more than $48,000 in bribes from undercover FBI agents posing as businessmen who wanted to do work with North Carolina’s largest city.
Keeps the FBI employed, all this entrapment.
A criminal complaint from the US attorney says the Democrat, who has been mayor for six months, accepted cash, airline tickets, a hotel room, and the use of a luxury apartment as bribes and solicited more than $1 million more.
How disappointing! I expect that out of Republicans!
Cannon says in the letter that the pending charges will create too much
of a distraction for the business of the city to go forward.
He is charged with bribery and public corruption.
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