According to the criminal complaint, mayor accepted more than $48,000 in cash
By Mitch Weiss and Tom Foreman Jr.
Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Mayor Patrick Cannon was getting ready to close the deal with the big-time developer, but was reluctant to take a briefcase containing $20,000 while sitting in his city office.
“I just got to be conscious about that kind of stuff here, you know,” Cannon told the fictitious developer, who was, in fact, an undercover FBI agent.
Yet when the “developer” left, the briefcase, given to Cannon in exchange for his offer to pull strings with important city officials, stayed behind, according to court documents.
Cannon was arrested Wednesday and 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. He resigned Wednesday evening, less than six months after taking office.
It was a stunning fall for the 47-year-old Democrat who had risen from the city’s public housing projects to become a successful businessman and politician.
According to the criminal complaint, Cannon accepted more than $48,000 in cash, airline tickets, a hotel room and the use of a luxury apartment as bribes and solicited more than $1 million more. If convicted on all charges, Cannon faces up to 50 years in prison and more than $1 million in fines.
While working with the undercover agents, Cannon touted his close relationship with Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and a trip to the White House to meet with President Barack Obama and other administration officials, the complaint said.
At one point, an undercover agent said to Cannon: “You’re operating at quite a level, Patrick.”
Cannon, a longtime radio show host and the founder of E-Z Parking, a parking management company, was elected mayor in November, replacing Anthony Foxx, who was named Transportation Secretary by Obama.
Cannon had an initial court appearance Wednesday and was released on $25,000 unsecured bond. He did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
FBI agents posing as commercial real estate developers paid Cannon on five separate occasions between January 2013 and February 2014, according to the complaint. The mayor accepted cash in exchange for access to city officials responsible for planning, zoning and permitting, the complaint said.
U.S. attorney’s office spokeswoman Lia Bantavani said the investigation was ongoing. She declined further comment.
The investigation began in August 2010 after a tip from a local undercover officer about public corruption. At the time, Cannon still held an at-large seat on the Charlotte City Council. He was first elected to the council in 1993 at age 26, becoming the youngest council member in the city’s history.
According to the complaint, Cannon also accepted $12,500 from an undercover agent to help him develop a feminine hygiene product called “Hers.” In exchange, Cannon offered to help the agent — posing as a business manager for a venture capital company — get the necessary permits to open a nightclub.
When the agent set up two later meetings to discuss the money and give Cannon an opportunity to return it, Cannon did not to show up, the complaint said.
During his campaign, Cannon promoted plans to create jobs in a city of 760,000 people that has become one of the nation’s leading banking and energy centers.
