darin
01-29-2018, 01:14 AM
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/01/28/meaning-meatballs-could-sway-case-in-democratic-mayors-corruption-trial.html
So the guy is charged with essentially acting like most of the Detroit "leadership" under Killpatrick.
Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, 51, who began a fourth term this month, faces an indictment that includes dozens of accusations of fraud, bribery, attempted extortion and lying to the FBI. The most serious charges carry a maximum prison term of 20 years each.
Prosecutors said Pawlowski rigged a series of contracts to go to law firms and businesses that supported his campaigns for governor and U.S. Senate, retaliated against vendors that refused to play along or didn’t give sufficiently and tried to hide his tracks.
Pawlowski’s defense has argued that it was the mayor’s advisers and others, including Fleck, who behaved improperly, not the mayor himself, according to The New York Times. The prosecution, which has relied on the cooperation of those advisers, has sought to direct scrutiny away from them and toward the mayor, claiming he rigged millions of dollars in contracts for legal, engineering, technology and construction work.
Pawlowski’s political consultants, Mike Fleck and Sam Ruchlewicz, cooperated with the government and secretly recorded conversations with the mayor.
The question in court is: in taped recordings between Fleck and Allentown’s former finance director Garret H. Strathearn, were the men really discussing literal meatballs? Or, were they taking a cue from shady deals of yore and using “meatballs” as a metaphor for a payoff?
“So, this is not code for a bribe? Did you actually go to Mike Fleck’s to pick up meatballs?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Morgan asked Strathearn, who responded with a yes, according to The Morning Call, of Allentown.
“Did you actually get meatballs?” Morgan asked.
“How many did you get?” Morgan asked.
yeah...right. Actual meatballs. Sure buddy.
So the guy is charged with essentially acting like most of the Detroit "leadership" under Killpatrick.
Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, 51, who began a fourth term this month, faces an indictment that includes dozens of accusations of fraud, bribery, attempted extortion and lying to the FBI. The most serious charges carry a maximum prison term of 20 years each.
Prosecutors said Pawlowski rigged a series of contracts to go to law firms and businesses that supported his campaigns for governor and U.S. Senate, retaliated against vendors that refused to play along or didn’t give sufficiently and tried to hide his tracks.
Pawlowski’s defense has argued that it was the mayor’s advisers and others, including Fleck, who behaved improperly, not the mayor himself, according to The New York Times. The prosecution, which has relied on the cooperation of those advisers, has sought to direct scrutiny away from them and toward the mayor, claiming he rigged millions of dollars in contracts for legal, engineering, technology and construction work.
Pawlowski’s political consultants, Mike Fleck and Sam Ruchlewicz, cooperated with the government and secretly recorded conversations with the mayor.
The question in court is: in taped recordings between Fleck and Allentown’s former finance director Garret H. Strathearn, were the men really discussing literal meatballs? Or, were they taking a cue from shady deals of yore and using “meatballs” as a metaphor for a payoff?
“So, this is not code for a bribe? Did you actually go to Mike Fleck’s to pick up meatballs?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Morgan asked Strathearn, who responded with a yes, according to The Morning Call, of Allentown.
“Did you actually get meatballs?” Morgan asked.
“How many did you get?” Morgan asked.
yeah...right. Actual meatballs. Sure buddy.