Public corruption convictions must carry harsh penalties, Davis argued, because they “damage the public’s faith in its government.”
Jones told Bickers that it’s clear that she has a “caring heart” and is “obviously a very smart person.” Referencing the roughly four dozen Bickers supporters in the courtroom, he said he was touched by her community’s support.
But he noted that 12 jurors who sat through a weekslong trial found her guilty on nine of 12 counts. He disputed the notion that her sentence was harsher because she went to trial.
Her actions were not accidental, he said, adding that she had a “deliberate plan” to put money in her pocket and in the pockets of the two contractors. Her actions “cast a shadow” over the many honest city employees in Atlanta, he said.
The corruption investigation became public in early 2017 when prosecutors accused Mitchell and Richards of conspiring to pay city officials to get contracts for emergency snow removal, sidewalk maintenance and bridge reconstruction from 2010 to 2015. Over the next several years, a half dozen others were charged, including high-ranking members of Reed’s administration. Reed himself was never charged, but the investigation loomed over his final year in office.
A 2018 indictment against Bickers said she accepted bribes from Mitchell and Richards and failed to disclose that companies she controlled received payments from the pair while she worked for the city. She also did not declare the income to the IRS and falsified tax documents, the indictment said.
The “pay-to-play” scheme continued after Bickers stopped working for the city, prosecutors said. When a January 2014 snowstorm paralyzed Atlanta, she used her influence to secure a multimillion dollar contract for Mitchell’s company, even though it “owned no snow-clearing or other equipment.”
She used the money for big purchases, like a lakefront home, a 2014 GMC Denali SUV and four Yamaha WaveRunners, and spent lavishly on travel and personal expenses, prosecutors said.
Bickers is to be under house arrest and to wear an ankle monitor until the federal Bureau of Prisons summons her to start her sentence, Jones said.
This article originally appeared on APNews.com.
