City Council members Rickey Peete and Edmund Ford were
charged with bribery in a federal criminal complaint Thursday.
In a separate complaint, former Shelby County Commission
candidate Joe Cooper was charged with helping drug dealers acquire cars.
A complaint is not an indictment but is an alternative way
for the government to proceed in a criminal case. An indictment could come later
following presentation of the complaint to a grand jury.
The complaint filed by an FBI agent came as a surprise and
was handled with secrecy to prevent Peete and Ford from learning about it. Peete
was at a party on Beale Street Wednesday night in preparation for Thursday’s
charity boxing match between Mayor Willie Herenton and Joe Frazier.
Peete and Ford allegedly sold their influence to help a
developer win approval for a planned development and a billboard near Interstate
240. A confidential informant who is facing indictment cooperated with the FBI
and taped both Ford and Peete. Peete allegedly got $12,000 while Ford got
$6,900.
The payments occurred in September and October. Ford
allegedly got his payment at his funeral home while Peete got his at his office
on Beale Street, where he is head of the Beale Street Merchants Association. The
affidavit says both councilmen were wary of being busted. The informant put
Peete’s “papers” in the bathroom of his office after Peete allegedly wrote a
note inquiring about possible cooperation with the FBI.
The planned development, which was not identified, passed
the council 9-2 in October over the objections of the Land Use Control Board and
Office of Planning and Development.
