Three members of the City Council in South Carolina's third-largest city accepted kickbacks and bribes to give out grant money and rezone land or lied about what they knew, federal prosecutors said Wednesday,
Charges against North Charleston councilmen Jerome Heyward, Sandino Moses and Mike A. Brown along with five others were announced Wednesday after a yearlong investigation by the FBI and state officials.
Heyward took a $40,000 kickback from two nonprofit organizations in return for steering to them part of a $1.3 million grant to fight gun violence in North Charleston, according to court documents.
Heyward and Brown were part of a scheme by a boat maker to rezone land on the Ashley River in North Charleston that was once a hospital and before that a fertilizer plant to sell to a boat manufacturer. The company offered to build a park but also wanted a plant on the site.
The councilmen accepted bribes to try to get the rezoning passed and by that time the FBI was listening to Heyward's call, catching Brown saying he was annoyed it was taking too long to get his money because he needed to pay for his son's wedding, prosecutors said.
The rezoning plan was rejected.
Moses also took money to support the rezoning. He returned it, but he lied about the offer and what he knew about his fellow councilmen being on the take, according to charging documents.
Heyward is charged with extortion, bribery and wire fraud. Brown is charged with bribery and wire fraud, and Moses is charged with lying to federal investigators.
Heyward and Moses plan to plead guilty to their charges on Friday, acting U.S. Attorney for South Carolina Brook Andrews said.
A lawyer for Heyward didn't comment Wednesday. The other councilmen and their lawyers didn't immediately respond. Heyward and Moses have resigned from council, North Charleston officials said.
“The allegations in this case describe a profound betrayal of trust,” Andrews said at a news conference. “These council members used their positions not to serve their communities, but to enrich themselves.”
North Charleston is South Carolina's third-largest city with about 125,000 people. Mayor Reggie Burgess thanked the FBI and state investigators for their work to make sure residents remained certain with their city government. He said the city fully cooperated with the investigation.
"Transparency and accountability remain core principles of this administration, and we welcomed this review as a necessary step to uphold those standards,” Burgess said.
Jeffrey Collins, The Associated Press
