John Wiley Price investigation renews concerns about feds targeting black politicians

Dallas, TX - Dallas City Council member Al Lipscomb. Dallas City Council member James Fantroy. Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill. Democratic state Rep. Terri Hodge. The list of black elected officials targeted by federal investigations in North Texas stretches back to the 1990s. Now pioneering Democratic Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price is in the hot seat. The maverick who rose from rabble-rousing protester to arguably the county’s most powerful politician is the subject of a wide-ranging investigation by the FBI.

Price has denied any wrongdoing. He has not been accused of or charged with any crime, but for many, a foreboding feeling has returned: Are black politicians in Dallas County being repeatedly and unjustly targeted by criminal investigations? Or are they crooks who rightly deserve prosecution?

“It’s both,” said senior retired state District Judge Maryellen Hicks of Fort Worth, a lifelong Democrat. “Quite frankly, some of us have got dirty hands. And I think the other side is — we’re being persecuted.”

Each new investigation stirs a wave of outrage and disgust, especially from many in the black community over what some say appears to be an orchestrated assault on African-American elected officials. Many blacks say unwarranted investigations of black leaders go all the way back to the 1920s and the days of black nationalist Marcus Garvey, who was investigated by J. Edgar Hoover, and continued up through Hoover and the FBI’s pursuit of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

In interviews with African-American politicians and political observers, The Dallas Morning News found that many acknowledge the hard road Dallas’ black political elite face when starting their careers, often with little money. They recognize the trailblazing nature of being among the first to achieve their posts, which in some cases has contributed to an arrogance that has led a few astray, they say.

But many are also firmly convinced that blacks have faced unfair scrutiny as one federal investigation into one politician has led into a long line of such cases, while local white politicians have publicly faced comparatively little scrutiny.

Bobbie Edmonds, a prominent African-American lawyer in Fort Worth who is often consulted by blacks and whites about sensitive race matters, said black politicians — whether fair or not — realize they have a target on their backs. So she said it’s startling to her that they repeatedly find themselves under investigation.

“You can’t become too relaxed and think that now we have arrived,” she said. “We are not equal. We strive for equality, but we are not equal.”

Federal thread of justice

Officials of the U.S. Justice Department, which includes the FBI, have repeatedly maintained that their investigations are solely about justice, not race. In a recent interview with The Dallas Morning News, Sarah Saldaña, the newly appointed U.S. attorney in Dallas, directly addressed the issue.

“We base prosecutions on evidence and nothing else,” Saldaña said. “As deputy chief over public corruption cases for almost three years, I can say unequivocally that we haven’t prosecuted people based on race or ethnicity, and it won’t happen on my watch as U.S. attorney.”

But, as Edmonds and others said, while it is impossible to state that criminal investigations of black elected officials are always racially motivated, race plays an undeniable role.

“People always want to say race doesn’t matter, but race matters,” she said. “It may not be the dominant factor, but it’s a factor. And that doesn’t mean you’re a racist if you say that.”

Former Dallas City Council member Paul Fielding, who is white, became the first sitting council member in the city’s history to be indicted on corruption charges. He resigned and pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy in the middle of his 1997 trial. During the trial, prosecutors produced taped evidence of him talking to Lipscomb about forming a “minority front” company that could seek business and payments from corporations and threaten to picket them for being unfair to blacks if they did not succumb. He was sentenced to 41 months in prison.

It was the beginning of a long thread that has traced its way through years of investigations. The same North Texas FBI corruption squad that worked the Fielding case was soon scrutinizing Lipscomb, the first black man elected to the council and a civil rights legend in North Texas.

Lipscomb, who died last year, was convicted of accepting bribes from white taxicab company owner Floyd Richards. The civil rights leader acknowledged he accepted the money but said the payments were not political bribes, but to support his family. His conviction was overturned on a technicality.

Lipscomb’s case was the forerunner to the largest federal investigation in the history of City Hall.

In 2004, news accounts revealed that the late former council member James Fantroy had sought to have his security company hired by developer James R. “Bill” Fisher, who had a project pending in Fantroy’s council district. The feds opened an investigation, but it widened significantly after Fisher, who is white, agreed to become an informant and revealed a network of corruption by then Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and his Plan Commission appointee, D’Angelo Lee, both black.

Fantroy was eventually convicted of embezzling money from predominantly black Paul Quinn College, while Hill, Lee and numerous cohorts were convicted of bribery and extortion in 2009. Hill is serving 18 years. Lee received a 14-year sentence.

Also in the Hill investigation, white developer Brian Potashnik along with his estranged wife, Cheryl, though not elected officials, were both convicted of bribery for their roles in the case. Cheryl Potashnik was given two years’ probation. Brian Potashnik was released from custody in December after serving less than a year of a 14-month sentence.

David A. Bositis, senior political analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, has long studied African-Americans, both in and out of the political realm. He says that the claim by many blacks that they are targeted by police or federal agents often has merit. But he said that justice is not always served by these efforts, even when the investigations result in convictions.

“Just because somebody is convicted, it does not necessarily mean that someone … is truly guilty of anything,” said Bositis, who is white. “There’s a good chance that they haven’t prosecuted these white officials for the same thing.”

Dallas lawyer Jonathan Neerman, a former chairman of the Dallas County Republican Party, said that federal authorities here have been color blind.

“Based on what I have seen, I don’t think there has been any targeting based on race or politics,” said Neerman, who is white. “If there is any corruption by officeholders, I would hope they would pursue them vigorously. It cuts both ways.”

Neerman pointed out that Saldaña, who oversaw the corruption unit that brought the Don Hill case before she became U.S. attorney, is a Hispanic Democrat.

The Price inquiry

While it remains unclear how and when the FBI began investigating Price, Kathy Nealy, Price’s chief political strategist, was a chief government witness in the Hill case. And her home and office were searched last summer about the same time federal authorities raided the home and office of Price.

Billy Ravkind, Price’s attorney, declined to comment for this story. But Tom Mills, the attorney for Dapheny Fain, Price’s assistant, who is also being investigated in the same inquiry, said he has no doubt the inquiries are racially motivated.

“Look at who’s being investigated,” Mills said. “I don’t know what else to think but that it’s racially motivated. The only other conclusion you can come to, and I don’t believe this, is that blacks are committing all of the crimes.”

Mills said that he believes that nearly all politicians and business people in the country, regardless of race, are probably guilty of some sort of criminal or regulatory wrongdoing or malfeasance. But he said that for reasons unknown, federal authorities overwhelmingly focus attention on minorities in general and African-Americans in particular.

Michael Sorrell, president of Paul Quinn College and a political consultant, said: “People tend to look in the places where they found things in the past. I don’t subscribe to a conspiracy theory, but I also don’t subscribe that the investigation is a random exercise.”

Except in the Fielding case, whites — such as Potashnik and Richards — have been collateral hits as federal investigators put the full force of their efforts into prosecuting elected officials, most of whom were black. Many say this gives the prosecutions a racial taint, regardless of motive.

Juanita Wallace, head of the Dallas NAACP, firmly believes that law enforcement authorities intentionally go after black politicians, but also acknowledges that sometimes they’re guilty.

“We don’t want to say that every person that is investigated is innocent, nor do we want to say they’re guilty prior to facts being brought forth,” Wallace said. “My gut feeling is if you go looking for something, you will find something.”

That, says Donald Payton, a historian who examines black politics and the history of southern Dallas, means the investigations of local black leaders have become a scheme to diminish black political power.

“They are clearly targeting powerful African-American politicians,” he said. “It’s a witch hunt.”

Politics requires money

Hicks helped organize one of the largest civil rights protests in North Texas history after three teenage skinheads fatally shot a black man in Arlington. She and others say the trouble some black elected officials have found themselves in isn’t always simply a matter of trying to pad their own pockets.

Many African-American politicians — including Lipscomb and Price — have been the first, or among the first, blacks elected to their offices. Pulled up to power by their own bootstraps, most of these politicians start their careers with little or no money.

“A lot of African-Americans who get into politics don’t get into it with money, but many of their [white] colleagues do come into it with money and don’t depend on the salaries they get from the office,” said Shawn Williams, editor of southdallasnews.com. It makes the African-American politicians “easier targets for people.”

Williams said that doesn’t make it OK for African-American officials to steal, lie or do anything else amoral, but he said when he sees or hears about them being in trouble with the law, it leaves him wondering.

“I don’t know if people are making decisions based on wanting to buy a yacht, or whether it’s people who are making decisions because they need to keep their lights on,” he said.

Although federal authorities alleged that Hill took in more than $100,000 from his illegal activities, they also say he had little to show for it, at one time being forced to share rides with Sheila Farrington, the mistress whom he would ultimately marry. She was also convicted of funneling money to him and buying him a BMW with money derived from the bribery scheme.

In 2004, as Farrington was negotiating a $14,000-per-month “consulting” contract with Potashnik — which amounted to bribe payments — Hill’s water at his house was cut off, Hill acknowledged in testimony.

Local civil rights leader Peter Johnson, who marched with King, says the post-civil rights generation of elected officials got into politics for the wrong reasons. They put making money, he said, over community service.

“There is targeting, but I have no sympathy or empathy for African-Americans who use our people as a stepladder to line their pockets,” Johnson said. “My generation dropped the ball. We didn’t get the next generation to understand what it took to get where we are. Black elected officials should be helping the community, not trying to use the office to get rich.”

Hicks said that many black officials who find themselves in trouble often share a common trait.

“There’s arrogance with black politicians. There really is,” Hicks said. “They think, ‘I’m smarter than everybody else. I can get away with it.’”

The temptation, in a few cases, was too great.

“We have to be better,” Wallace said. “If you have integrity and have morals, then you say, this is not my damn money to take. And because it’s not my money to take, then I need to get out of this position, so I can make enough money so I don’t get my sticky fingers on this money.”

Sorrell said that Matrice Ellis-Kirk, wife of U.S. Trade Representative and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, gave him great advice about public service.

“Don’t run when you think you can win,” Sorrell said she told him. “Run when you can afford to win. You have to balance what you owe the community and what you owe your family, a family that’s depending on you to pay the mortgage and keep the lights on.”

It’s advice that Ron Kirk lived by. As Dallas mayor, he revealed to reporters that he counseled would-be politicians not to seek office if their primary motivation for doing so was to get rich.

Kirk, Dallas’ first black mayor, avoided even a wisp of investigative scrutiny as he led the city from 1995 to 2001.

But many observers also note that Kirk, a lawyer by trade and a former Texas secretary of state, almost certainly benefited from the fact that he came into the mayor’s office on solid financial footing. During his nearly two terms as mayor, his law firm at the time — Gardere Wynne Sewell — continued to pay him his full salary.

Lipscomb served on the City Council when Kirk was mayor. The council member’s stipend was $50 per meeting. After 2001, while Lipscomb was under house arrest, voters approved a salary of $37,500 for council members. The mayor now makes $60,000 annually.

Both Sorrell and Williams say a greater council salary would lead to a better crop of candidates, but they also say that a crooked person would be crooked under any system.

Long-term impact

Federal corruption investigations which have led to the downfall of mostly black politicians not only dislodge popular and powerful black leaders, but other blacks say it means that those African-Americans who remain in or enter public office, serve under intense pressure and scrutiny.

“Our numbers are few so we’re always under a microscope,” said Hicks. “So we have to make sure individually, collectively and as a community, that we’re above reproach.”

Edmonds said that even if the investigations don’t result in prison time, the very fact of an investigation is nearly as damaging.

“We should go in there knowing we’re under the microscope,” said Edmonds, the Fort Worth lawyer. “We can’t do things other people do. We will get caught, and they will bring charges. And it may only be a misdemeanor charge, but they have diminished your credibility, they have destroyed your voting capability.”

Edmonds added that those who get investigated instantly are caught in a situation that calls for them to speak out against the allegations even if they have no merit.

“They have to fight for their character, fight for their integrity, because they have to rebut the allegations,” she said.

“It calls for a response, even if the response is, ‘I’m not going to respond,’ or ‘no comment.’ It tarnishes the image,” she said. “And even if it’s not true, you’ll have people out there who believe it. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, they’ll say.”

The convictions of black politicians have many calling for change. They say current black officials should help prepare future black politicos to function in an arena where their phones could be tapped and financial records analyzed.

If they are not guilty of anything, there should be no need to worry about federal investigations.

“It’s not enough to say ‘white folks’ did it that way,” said Calvin Stephens, a black Dallas businessman who is active in local GOP politics. “The people who get into the most trouble seem to do things that draw the attention of investigators. It just might be that they are doing something wrong, or it’s simply how they handle their business.”

Staff writer Jason Trahan contributed to this report.

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Politicians investigated

Paul Fielding: He was the first sitting council member to be indicted on corruption charges. Fielding, who is white, was caught on tape talking to council member Al Lipscomb about forming a “minority front” company that could seek business and payments from corporations and threaten to picket them for being unfair to blacks if they did not succumb. He resigned and pleaded guilty in 1997.

Al Lipscomb: Based on information developed in the Fielding investigation, federal authorities charged the late civil rights leader in 1999 with taking more than $90,000 in what they described as bribe payments from cab company owner Floyd Richards. Lipscomb was convicted, but an appeals court set him free because the judge improperly moved the trial to the Panhandle. Richards pleaded guilty but publicly maintains his innocence.

James Fantroy: His attempt to solicit a bribe from developer James R. “Bill” Fisher attracted the FBI’s attention in 2004, but the late former council member was ultimately not charged with bribery. Instead, he was convicted in 2008 of embezzling $21,000 from Paul Quinn College. He was sentenced to 30 days in prison and 180 days of home confinement.

Don Hill: After Fisher began cooperating with Dallas FBI agents, they opened a case on Hill, whose corruption case became the largest in Dallas history. In 2009 he was convicted of bribery, along with his wife, Sheila Farrington, former Plan Commission member D’Angelo Lee and several others. Hill is serving 18 years in federal prison.

Terri Hodge: The former state representative was charged with bribery as part of the Hill investigation. But before her corruption trial could begin, she pleaded guilty to tax evasion for not reporting bribe payments as income. She served one year in federal prison.

John Wiley Price: In June, agents searched the office and home of Price, as well as the office and home of his executive assistant, Dapheny Fain, and the home and office of his chief political consultant, Kathy Nealy. Two grand juries are hearing evidence, but sources say that if there are any charges, they could be months away because of the complexity of the case.

Gromer Jeffers Jr., Jason Trahan

The investigator

In October, The Dallas Morning News published an extensive profile of public corruption investigator Don Sherman, which you can read here. The FBI special agent has been involved in every major federal investigation targeting malfeasance in local government in recent decades. Read the story of how some see him as a dogged pursuer of justice, while others find him overly aggressive and are troubled that nearly all the elected municipal officials prosecuted for corruption have been black. 

Source: Dallas Morning News