Sam Riddle’s federal bribery case in Detroit continues to shock

Maybe it’s a guilty pleasure to follow the jaw-dropping twists and turns of Detroit’s latest political scandal, but Sam Riddle’s ongoing federal corruption trial continues to offer some of the most sleazy testimony and allegations in quite some time.

Apart from Riddle’s brash and offensive explanations including this doozy (be sure to check out Riddle’s quasi-rebuttal posted on Facebook), today’s developments in the courtroom include the claim that Riddle offered then-City Councilwoman Monica Conyers’ vote in exchange for a cool $25K bribe. Riddle was then a top aide to Conyers.

Back in the fall of 2006, two officers with Déjà vu Consulting, owner of a topless bar seeking to transfer the establishment’s lucrative business license into the city, allege that Riddle met with them at a Dearborn restaurant to explain how the city’s new strip-club license transfer system worked. This is how Jim St. John, president of Déjà vu Consulting, described the proposition — under oath is U.S. District Court — earlier today:

“Here’s a guy asking me for $25,000 and he’s wearing a gravy-stained tracksuit,” Hall said. “It was like something out of a bad movie.”

The week following that meeting, the Detroit City Council voted 5-4 against the topless bar license transfer — with Conyers, wife of long-time U.S. Rep. John Conyers, casting the deciding vote against the transfer.

Ah, but the story gets better… or worse.

Hall testified that he and his business partner refused Riddle’s invitation to pay the hefty bribe. But apparently that didn’t stop their “consultant” Detroit businessman Christopher Jackson from dutifully sending two checks to Riddle’s consulting company. A story published earlier today on the Detroit News website spells out the unseemly details of what Riddle did with those checks — and the subsequent action from Conyers’ the money provoked:

One check was for $10,000, earmarked for reconsideration of the vote, and the other was for $15,000, as a success fee, the prosecutors allege. On Nov. 17, 2006, Conyers sent a memo to the Detroit city clerk that said she wanted to reconsider her vote on the strip-club license. Riddle cashed the $10,000 check to his consulting firm, Meridian Management Systems, the same day, the indictment alleges.  But Riddle was unable to cash the check for $15,000, which Jackson had voided, and the reconsideration did not take place.

Of course, there are two sides to every story, and I feel obliged to highlight this quote from Riddle’s lawyer attempting to demolish the Déjà vu crew’s credibility. Again, from the Detroit News account:

“They didn’t report this to law enforcement, instead they told their lawyer,” Riddle attorney John Minock said in his opening statement, noting the denial of the license transfer meant “millions in lost profits.”

“These guys have millions of reasons to put a spin on their evidence.”

What a mess.