In a shocking turn of events, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has affirmed the convictions and sentences of the last four remaining defendants in the Dallas City Hall Corruption case. The defendants, including former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Donald Hill, his wife Sheila Farrington Hill, former City Plan & Zoning Commissioner D’Angelo Lee, and Darren Reagan, head of the Black State Employees Association, were found guilty of bribery, extortion, and money laundering charges.
The court’s 32-page opinion, released on August 2, emphasized that the government’s evidence was ‘strong’ and ‘amply’ supported the convictions and sentences in a case ‘involving substantial and wide-ranging public corruption charges related to government-subsidized housing development projects in Dallas.’
The defendants were convicted after a three-month trial that began in June 2009. Hill testified in the case and was sentenced to 18 years in prison, while Farrington Hill received 9 years, Lee received 14 years, and Reagan received 14 years.
The charges against the defendants included bribery, extortion, and money laundering related to housing development projects in Dallas. The court’s opinion noted that ‘in order to obtain Hill’s political support for his housing developments, [housing developer Brian] Potashnik agreed to hire Farrington as a community consultant … [and] regularly paid Farrington … despite Farrington never having done any work for him.’
The defendants also demanded that Potashnik involve various non-profit organizations in his developments, and these organizations then remitted part of their fees to Farrington. Farrington used money from her business account to buy cars for Hill and Lee and made cash withdrawals from the account for Lee.
In affirming the extortion convictions, the Court noted that ‘[w]hile these machinations with respect to Potashnik were ongoing, the appellants were also involved in illegal schemes related to Potashnik’s rival, Fisher,’ which culminated in ‘[t]he FBI … photograph[ing] Reagan giving Hill an envelope containing $10,000’ after Reagan received one of the extortion payments from Fisher.
U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña praised the efforts of the public servants who worked on the case, saying ‘The successful resolution of this case would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of many dedicated public servants. I commend their efforts.’
The case was investigated by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chad Meacham and Marcus Busch, along with U.S. Attorney Saldaña.
Defendant: Donald Hill, Sheila Farrington Hill, D’Angelo Lee, Darren Reagan
Criminal Charges: Bribery, Extortion, Money Laundering
City and State: Dallas, Texas
Date: August 2, 2012
Sentence: Donald Hill – 18 years, Sheila Farrington Hill – 9 years, D’Angelo Lee – 14 years, Darren Reagan – 14 years
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Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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