Monica Conyers, the president pro tem of the Detroit city council — and the wife of Rep. John Conyers, the powerful chair of the US House Judiciary committee — has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery, which is punishable by up to five years in prison.
The Detroit Free Press reports:
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.
Other court documents have said Conyers took at least two bribes of $3000 each, among other bribes.
The paper adds:
In both cases cited in the court documents today, Conyers was handed the cash in an envelope by a individual representing Rayford Jackson, a Detroit businessman doing work for Synagro who pleaded guilty to bribery earlier this month.
Conyers had raised suspicions by strongly opposing the 2007 sludge-hauling contract for Synagro before abruptly switching her position and voting in favor of the deal.
Her case was part of a wide-ranging probe of corruption at city hall in Detroit.
Conyers has not resigned from the council, and her lawyer said that the city charter does not require her to do so until she has been sentenced.