At her peak she presided over the Detroit city council as its president. Wednesday, a federal judge will tell Monica Conyers how long she’ll spend in prison. Conyers sentencing comes after the former Detroit politician pleaded guilty to accepting thousands of dollars in bribes.
The prosecution is recommending 46 to 57 months in federal prison. That’s just shy of the five year maximum sentence. Conyers agreed to a plea bargain under which she could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
Among the factors prosecutors cite for wanting a strict sentence are her position, the fact that she actively asked for the money, and that the sentence would be consistent with other sentences given out in the corruption probe.
According to court documents, the list of companies from which Conyers accepted bribes includes Synagro ($13,000), The Phoenix Group ($6,500), Wireless Resources ($20,000), Helicon Holdings ($20,000), Déjà vu Strip Club, ($10,000). That’s a grand total of almost $70,000.
The judge that will hand down this sentence also presided over Sam Riddle’s case. Riddle was Conyer’s close associate, whose case was declared a mistrial. Since this judge has heard the wiretapped phone calls, it will be interesting to see how sentencing plays out.
