Thursday, November 19, 2020

Three of the nine members of the Cincinnati City Council have been charged with corruption

NYT:

The first blow came in February when Tamaya Dennard, the president pro tem of the Cincinnati City Council, was arrested and charged with accepting $15,000 in bribes in exchange for a vote on the Council. She pleaded guilty in June and faces up to 20 years in prison when she is sentenced in federal court next week.

The second landed last week when Jeffrey Pastor, another member of the City Council, was charged with taking $55,000 in bribes in return for promising to help city development projects, including the redevelopment of a downtown building. Mr. Pastor has pleaded not guilty and has resisted calls to step down.

Then, on Thursday, Alexander Sittenfeld became the third member of the City Council charged with corruption when he was arrested at home and charged with taking $40,000 in bribes while promising to “deliver the votes” for the same downtown development project that Mr. Pastor was involved in, federal prosecutors said.

...

“He was the bright young boy wonder of Cincinnati city politics with the Ivy League pedigree and the old money family”

He was the favorite to become the next mayor.