12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 143 on tape. Nate Gray: "I'm getting government contracts. 99 percent of my business is public sector. See, in this business, there is only one reason basically 90 percent of the time a person will let you in, greasing the paim, okay. Nate Gray on how to treat public officials like Joe Jones. "The more that you treat them like a trick, or exactly what they are, the more better results you'll get. Treat them like a straight prostitute." Nate Gray on how to make use of partners like defendant Gilbert Jackson et's say you go into another area, there is another congressman, there is another mayor, there is another councilmen, and you've got all those expenses." Defendant Gilbert Jackson, his words on how to use a $2,500 check that Nate Gray has just sent you to get the attention of a New Orleans, Louisiana public official. "I know this boy Vince out at the Mayor's office, he's the one pushing this for me. I'm just going to turn and flip it to him."a 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 144 Councilman Joe Jones applying for a position from defendant Nate Gray "I want to join that million dollar club, man." Councilman Joe Jones' own words on what to say to get Nate Gray to hand you a check for $5,000. MR. WHITAKER: Objection, your Honor. THE COURT: Overruled. MR. DETTELBACH: "We need to sit down and talk. There is some things I can do, you know There is a lot of missed opportunities and I don't want to miss those opportunities.” The defendants’ own words. Now you've heard them. Now let me tell you something about these defendants. First, let me introduce you to Councilman Joe Jones at the end of the table. You'll hear that he's an elected city councilman from Cleveland, Ohio in Ward 1, And the evidence in this case is going to show that he misused that office to obtain campaign contributions and things of value Next, near the end of the table, is defendant Gilbert Jackson. And he's a Senior Vice President at a major national engineering firm, a corporation that does business all over the country10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 145 based out of New Orleans, Mr. Jackson is. And the evidence is going to show that he worked with defendant Nate Gray both as a corporate executive for this company called Camp, Dresser & McKee, and as a paid member of Mr. Gray's own corrupt enterprise, to provide improper things of value to public officials. And then last there is the defendant Nate Gray at the end. ‘The man who the evidence will show is at the center of this case, and who greased palm after palm after palm, to use his own words. The man who not only spoke about, but treated public officials like prostitutes. He paid them to get what he wanted. The evidence will show that defendant Gray set up and ran a corrupt enterprise out of his offices in Cleveland, Ohio, And that there were various businesses in these offices. His own businesses, a parking business, a consulting business, even a gas station business. But most pertinent to this case, the evidence will show that these businesses that went under the name ETNA, E-T-N-A, which is just the letters from the word Nate scrambled around -- that these businesses were used, and Mr. Gray'so 10 ql 12 13 14 15 16 7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 146 enterprise was used, to offer a service. It was the service of a modern day bag man. A service that created a buffer between corrupt public officials on the one hand, and businesses and corporations on the other side of the equation that wanted to corrupt the governmental process. It let them both do it and made it a whole lot harder to catch them at it. And you will hear for this service Nate Gray and his associates were paid literally thousands of dollars every month Now that I have introduced the defendants, let me reintroduce myself. My name is Steve Dettelbach, and I represent the United States of America in this case. And with me as fellow co-council are Benita Pearson and Mary Butler. Sitting here is Special Agent Michael Massie from the Federal Bureau of Investigation He's the case agent on the case. And sitting next to him is Angela Rossiletti from the U.S. Attorneys office. She's also going to help in the government's presentation. In the United States of America, and I'm not talking about the private sector, in the public sector there are some fairly fundamental principles about how our governments are supposed to run.10 a 13 14 15 16 a7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 447 One, and a key one, is that they operate for the people, and that's who the government owes its loyalty to. It's called a duty of faithful and honest services, free from bias, free from hidden conflicts of interest. And this case is about a pattern of conduct designed to undermine that very basic fundamental principle, that the government owes its 100 percent loyalty to the people The evidence in this case will show that the corruption of this principle came from both sides of the equation, From people on the public sector side, public and elected officials like defendant Jones; and from the private sector side, from people like defendant Nate Gray, and defendant Gilbert Jackson. In fact, the evidence is going to show that defendant Gray and defendant Jackson worked together with each other, and with other people, to operate an enterprise whose purpose was to help people on both sides of that equation to commit corrupt acts to corrupt the people's government and to get away with it. And the evidence is going to show that corruption was accomplished in a variety of different ways. Let me give you an overview.10 qa 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 148 First, conspiring or agreeing together to engage in certain corrupt acts. And that, in and of itself, is a crime. Second, actually following through on those corrupt acts with actions. And there are a couple different times. First, providing public officials with things of value as part of a scheme to influence them by creating these conflicts of interest that were hidden. Second, providing public officials with things of value in an attempt to bribe them. To get them to help with specific people and specific companies on contracts that were being sold. Those actions, that evidence, resulted in the indictment. And let me tell you, it’s an overview of the things that are in the indictment that you are going to be considering. Count 1, as the judge told you, is a RICO conspiracy count, It's an overall conspiracy that charges the defendant Nate Gray and defendant Gilbert Jackson with conspiring or agreeing to participate in a corrupt enterprise, which we'll call the Gray enterprise. And basically to run that enterprise through a pattern of at least two corrupt10 ul 12 13 14 16 a7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 149 acts that were designed to do one of two things, or both. one, deprive the people, the public, of the right to those honest services from its government. And two, to bribe willing public officials. And this Count 1 is sort of the overarching count of the indictment. It involves a conspiracy that includes most everything that follows in the case, and actually some things that aren't even included in the other counts that I'11 tell you about. And in this case, only defendants Nate Gray and defendant Gilbert Jackson are charged in that count in this case that's before you. So that means two things. First of all, defendant Joseph Jones, he is not charged in that count. Second of all, you are going to hear, and the evidence is certainly going to show, that there were other people besides defendant Nate Gray and defendant Gilbert Jackson who were involved in these corrupt activities. And you are going to hear about a guy named Brent Jividen, for instance. And youo 10 1 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 150 are going to hear about others as well. And some of those other people will be testifying here in this case as part of plea agreements. Others will not. But you'll hear about their conduct, their misconduct, in the evidence that's presented. And all of that evidence, the defendant's own conduct, the conduct of the people who are going to be testifying here today that they worked with, and the conduct of the people that the evidence is going to show you about that won't be testifying, that's all part of that Count 1 that the defendants are charged with, defendants Nate Gray and Gilbert Jackson. That's Count 1 Now let me go over the rest of the indictment. And it's divided basically into four different sections. Each section relates to a different city where the evidence will show that corrupt activity took place. And there are four geographical sections. One, Bast Cleveland, Ohio. Two, Cleveland, Ohio. Three, Houston, Texas. And four, New Orleans, Louisiana. And each section of the indictment, each of those four sections contains the same or begins10 1 12 13 14 15 16 7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 asi with the same basic two charges. First, that the defendants who are charged in that section engaged in a scheme to deprive the public of the honest services of its public officials. It's called honest services mail and wire fraud. As you can guess by the fact it's called mail and wire fraud, each of those counts is actually linked to a particular piece of mail or wire communication. It won't be every letter sent in the case, don't worry, but each of those relate to a count that somehow or another furthered the schene. An invoice, a check, an interstate fax, a long distance phone call over the wire, those things. The second thing that's contained in each section is a charge that the defendants, charged in that section, conspired or agreed together to violate the Hobbs Act. That is, to bribe a public official, or if a person is a public official, like Joseph Jones, to be bribed. Those are the things that are in every section, those two things. Honest services wire fraud and conspiracy to violate the Hobbs Act. In two of the four geographical sections Hast Cleveland, Ohio and Houston, Texas, then there10 11 12 13 14 15 16 uy 18 1g 20 21 22 23 24 25 152 are a series of additional counts with actual substantive Hobbs Act or bribery charges involving specific things of value that we picked and included in different counts that were provided to public officials, It's not everything of value that was given to a public official that you are going to hear about in this case. And you'll hear that these specific accounts were given in different forms of things of value. Cash in envelopes, luxury items, trips that were paid for. In the substantive Hobbs Act count they are all, each count is over five hundred dollars, and some, many are in the thousands of dollars. And you will see about those things of value. So now that you've heard about the types of charges, let me give you an overview of the types of evidence that you are going to hear that will prove those charges. First, in this case, you won't have to take my word, and you won't even have to take witness testimony word for anything because you are going to have a luxury in this case of having the defendants' own words. You will hear that on April 1st, 200310 1. 32 13 14 15 16 7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 153 defendant Nate Gray had a very bad day. And the reason that he had a bad day is because on that day he had hired a professional to sweep his office for bugs. You'll hear that he had been tipped off by one of his corrupt associates, a mayor that he was paying off, that there was electronic surveillance in his office. And he found out that that was right. And it must have been a bad day because of course, he knew then what you are about to find out during this trial; that any number of a corrupt activities had been occurring over the prior months in his office and over his phones. And you'll hear in this trial, on tape, the words of Nate Gray, of Gilbert Jackson, of Joe Jones, talking on those phones about their corrupt activities. And you will see with your own eyes Nate Gray in action. Because there was also a peephole camera above his conference table. You will see him count out the money, one hundred, two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, five hundred, hundred dollar bills. You will see him hand it to a public official, not once but numerous times. And this is not a case, I have to warn10 ql 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 154 you, where you are going to hear one tape or ten tapes, or 20 tapes, or I'm sorry, fifty tapes. If you take notes you may get writer's cramps because there are over a hundred tapes. You will be hearing on those tapes, tape after tape, the defendants in this case plotting and scheming, either to provide things of value to public officials or to influence those very same public officials with respect to their official duties. So tapes, that's the first category of evidence. The second is records, documents. And you are going to see numerous records in this case, and they basically fall into three categories. One, are records and business records that were obtained from third parties, contracts. Documents that allow you to put these actions into context, or understand the transactions. Two, documents that were obtained pursuant to the execution of search warrants, including on defendant Gray's home and his business. And you are going to hear that there is direct evidence of a criminal misconduct in this case that was found there, some of which you are10 qa 12 13 14 1s wy 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 155 going to hear that the defendant was attempting to conceal from the investigators in this case. And then third, in the third party records and search warrant records, you are going to see a lot of financial records from banks and businesses. And that is going to allow you to do something that none of these three defendants ever wanted anybody to be able to do, follow the money, Because that is what it's about. So you are going to hear tapes, you are going to see records, and then the third category of evidence is of course witness testimony. And there is going to be all kinds of different witness testimony in this case. There is going to be testimony from law enforcement officers and regulators whose job it is to enforce the law. There is going to be testimony from witnesses from the public sector who worked for these governments who can place these transactions in context. There is going to be testimony from people who worked in the private sector. People who worked in some of the businesses involved who have various degrees of knowledge.10 a 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 156 And then there is also going to be testimony from people in the defendant's sector. You are going to be hearing from several people that, in effect, these defendants themselves sort of put on our witness list. They didn't put them on by handing us a list, but they put them on our witness list by picking them out as the people that they wanted to conspire and work with to do the misconduct in this case. And they are going to come in and fundamentally admit two things: I did it, and I did it with him, Many of them are going to be testifying pursuant to guilty plea agreements. And they are going to be hoping for a reduced sentence from the judge. And that is not unusual in a criminal case. And I'm sure that the defense attorneys in this case will have something to say about these particular people and their conduct. And that is appropriate. But we ask you to listen to their testimony, Listen to what they have to gain. Listen to what they've already lost because of their misconduct. And most importantly, listen to what they say, because it may be helpful to you in placing in context what will already been clear from10 ql 12 13 44 15 16 7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 157 the tapes and records that you are going to see in this case. So now that you've heard about the types of charges and the types of evidence, now let me go through and show you -- tell you what the evidence is going to show with respect to each section of the case that I outlined. Let's start with East Cleveland, Ohio You will hear that East Cleveland, Ohio is a city that boarders on Cleveland, Ohio. It is a separate city and it's fallen on some very tough times. The people who are residents there have some serious problems. But the evidence is going to show that in those problems the defendant Nate Gray saw an opportunity for himself to make money. You are going to see that effectively defendant Nate Gray decided to invest in and eventually buy himself a mayor. And that mayor's name was Emmanuel Onunwor, in the City of East Cleveland. You are actually going to see him with your own eyes paying his mayor not once, not twice. not three times, not four times, but five separate times on tape. You are going to hear Nate Gray and0 10 a4 aa) 13 14 15 16 17 18 1g 20 21 22 23 24 25 158 Emmanuel Onunwor talk on the phone to set up this sort of monthly payoff meeting. And they never discussed money over the phone, even though you'll see that what happened is that Emmanuel Onunwor will drive to meet Nate Gray most of the time at his office, never at City Hall. And that he'll go up into the office and that the first thing that happened is they will sit down at that little round conference table and Nate Gray will just slide an envelope with cash in it across the table. And Emmanuel Onunwor, the City Mayor of that city, will pick it up and put it in his pocket. And then those two men will sit there and talk about and decide how to run the City of East Cleveland, Ohio. Now don't get me wrong, you'll hear from the tapes, Mr. Gray doesn't seem to know a whole lot of the nitty gritty of running the City of East Cleveland, Ohio. You will hear he doesn't even know how the council people are selected in the City of East Cleveland. But one thing he does seem to know about is contracts and vendors. And when Mayor Onunwor and Nate Gray are discussing contracts and vendors, it's sometimes difficult to tell who the mayor is. You will actually hear Mr. Gray's own10 qt 12 13 4 15 16 ay 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 159 words when he talks about Emmanuel Onunwor to other people, how he refers to him as my Hast Cleveland Mayor, and he doesn't live in East Cleveland These monthly payoffs that you are going to hear about and see, they didn't just begin. however, when the camera was turned on pursuant to court authorization. The evidence will show that Nate Gray had been making regular payments to Mayor Onunwor right from the very outset of the time that he was elected mayor. In fact, you are going to hear that he even sort of invested in Emmanuel Onunwor by making occasional payments even before that. And the evidence is going to show, you are going to hear Nate Gray a lot on tape. He's very very good at mixing business with pleasure, at cultivating people. So that if there comes a time when Mr. Gray needs to use them or they can do something for him, he's ready, he's ready to cash in, And you are going to hear, and the evidence is going to show, that when Emmanuel Onunwor was elected Mayor in 1998, defendant Gray's investment was about to pay off, big time. Nate Gray wasn't giving this money out of10 1 12 13 14 15 16 a7 18 19 20 aL 22 23 24 25 160 charity. You will hear about it on tapes, from witnesses, and through records. Mr. Gray wanted and got one thing in exchange for the money he was giving to the city, Mayor of the City of East Cleveland. Contracts for the people and for the businesses who were paying defendant Gray and paying the Gray enterprise thousands of dollars a month. There are three specific contracts in East Cleveland that we are going to hear about. One is dubbed tax collections. You are going to hear that East Cleveland had a contract with a law firm, of all things, to collect taxes on the municipal level. And when Emmanuel Onunwor was running for Mayor, before he got in, you are going to hear he wasn't happy, he was threatening to fire that firm. But when he got in, did he fire them? No. The evidence is going to show he kept that law firm on for four years, from 1998 to 2002. They literally made hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees during that period. And only when an independent state auditor came in and gave a scathing report about what a bad deal this was and how everybody could see, only then did he let them go.10 qi 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 161 The reason that you will find out that Emmanuel Onunwor kept this firm on, despite his campaign promise, is because Nate Gray was paying him to do that. He was paying him. And the reason he was paying him is that shortly after Emmanuel Onunwor was elected Mayor, he and Mr. Gray arranged it so that law firm started making monthly payments to none other than Nate Gray. You are going to be able to follow that money trail. You are certainly not going to be able to follow the work trail of Mr. Gray, because Mr. Gray wasn't doing any work in exchange for that money payment. It was a sham contract And you are also going to be able to hear on tape what happens when the public report comes out and East Cleveland has to release that law firm. Number 1, they stop paying Nate Gray because that contract was directly linked to that work. And number 2, the defendant, Nate Gray, and his mayor, Emmanuel Onunwor, sit there on tape and you will hear them discussing how they have to work to get another firm in there that they can shake down just like they shook down this law firm. The law firm's name is Javitch, Block, Eisen and10 a 12 13 4 15 16 ay 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 162 Rathbone. The second type of contract that you are going to hear about in East Cleveland that this money related to is engineering contracts. And you are going to hear about an engineering firm called Ralph Tyler Companies. You are going to hear that they were also paying defendant Nate Gray one thousand dollars a month. During the same time he's in turn sitting down with Mayor Onunwor every month and passing him that cash in that envelope. And you will hear tapes and see records, and hear testimony, that in turn for that money that Emmanuel Onunwor helped Ralph Tyler Companies get engineering contracts in the City of East Cleveland And by the way, this firm had no contract at all with Nate Gray, they are just giving him a thousand dollars a month without any written agreement But the biggest money that was available in the City of East Cleveland wasn't the collections, or the engineering, it related to the Water Department of the City of East Cleveland, Ohio. And you are going to hear tapes and see documents and hear testimony that Nate Gray and10 1. 12 13 14 15 16 ay 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 163 Emmanuel Onunwor arranged it so that a large national firm called CH2M Hill, that's also referred to as OMI, that that firm could come into East Cleveland without any competition at all and literally take over, privatize the Bast Cleveland Water Department for millions of dollars. Of course, you are also going to learn what the people didn't know, that that firm had to make secret payments to Nate Gray every month for thousands of dollars. And unlike the law firm, who at least had a sham contract with Mr. Gray, again, no contract at all between this consulting -- between this engineering firm and Nate Gray. Just thousands of dollars. And they came up with this idea that they would pass this money through this company, the Ralph Tyler Company, the engineering company. And that's what you will see happened when you follow the money. The money gets paid every month to the engineering firm of Ralph Tyler, and he just turns, flips it. He doesn't give any of that money to the middle person, all one hundred percent passed through the contract, the money goes to Nate Gray.10 1 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 164 And you will hear that this Water Department of City of East Cleveland, it was a real problem. It was a real problem for that city. And the evidence will show that all that defendant Gray cared about was the flow, not of water, but of money. You will hear that there was no competition for this company that Mr. Gray was representing. No competition so there could be better ideas or lower prices, none of that You will hear Emmanuel Onunwor, the Mayor, and Nate Gray talk together on tape, strategize how to shut up City Council people who were raising a fuss about the bad job that the Water Department -- Water Company was doing. You will actually hear one time where Nate Gray and Emmanuel Onunwor on are tape and they are laughing about how high the bills are for the people of the City of East Cleveland The only thing you will hear Mr. Gray cared about was that flow of money. He was concerned if it slowed down. As long as the money was flowing, everything was fine. Let's move past East Cleveland now. Because East Cleveland wasn't the only city where10 qi 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 165 you will hear some confusion on the tape about who was really the elected official. You will hear it on tape, yourself. Pick up the phone. Councilman Joe Jones this is Councilman Nate Gray Now, of the three defendants who are on trial in this case, Joe Jones is the only elected official. And he is only involved in one particular section of the case; two counts involving his action as a city councilman in Ward 1, Cleveland, Ohio. For that reason, I want to warn you that there are going to be times or periods in the case where his name will come up. For one, I'm going to ask you to have patience, because when we get to him there will be significant evidence, tapes, records, and witnesses that show a pattern of improper conduct by him. The evidence will show that he did two things that violated the law. One, that he agreed or conspired to obtain improper campaign contributions in exchange for the misuse of his office. And two, that he engaged in this scheme to deprive the public of his honest services free from undisclosed conflicts of interest, and used the14 15 16 v7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 166 mails to further that scheme in some way. The evidence to support those two charges will show that from the Spring of 2002 until 2003 Joe Jones misused his office as councilman to obtain a series of things of value from Nate Gray, and then also from a close associate of Nate Gray's named Ricardo Teamor, and others also. Now, you'll hear that defendant Joe Jones is a councilman, he's not a mayor, and he didn't rate as much things of value as did, say, Emmanuel Onunwor. You are even going to hear on tape Nate Gray and this other person, Ricardo Teamor, debating over whether Joe Jones was powerful enough to be worth the financial investment that they were making in him. And that's exactly the way -~ MR. WHITAKER: Objection, your Honor. In fact, I would like a continuing objection to any comments regarding Nate Gray and Joe Jones. THE COURT: Overruled. MR. DETTELBAC! : You are going to hear them discussing him just like an investment, the pros and cons, like a stock. Is it worth putting10 1. 12 13 14 15 16 a7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 167 our money in this man? Because it was all about business. But the one person who didn't seem to have any doubt that his stock was on the rise was indeed Councilman Joe Jones. You'll hear that he was ambitious and that he needed money. And he made the decision to go to Nate Gray and Ricardo Teamor for that money. And you will hear him on tape enticing Nate Gray about missed opportunities. About taking his career to, as he put it, the next level. About joining that million dollar club. About telling Nate Gray, there are things that I can do. But most of all you are going to hear him talk about and ask for money. You will hear about him asking for it and getting it from both Ricardo Teamor and Nate Gray time after time The first incident that you are going to hear about happened in 2001. And this involved Ricardo Teamor. The evidence is going to show that he was at the time a very prominent lawyer in Cleveland. I say was because you are going to hear pursuant to his plea agreement in this case, he will never practice law ever again. In addition to the documents he's going to10 qi 12 13 14 15 16 uy 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 168 sit right there on that witness stand and he's going to tell you, he bribed Councilman Joe Jones. And in addition to being a lawyer, you are going to hear that he was also a principal in a construction firm named RMC at that time. And RMC is a minority subtract contractor that participates in an annual ritual we have up here in northeast Ohio. When the snow melts we dig up the streets and put up those orange cones, And RMC was part of one of these pipe tearing up projects that the Cleveland Water Department was doing. And you are going to hear about, as always, there were complaints that the residents had about their streets being torn up. But that on this occasion, the defendant Joe Jones, as a councilman, inserted himself into that process. And he actually threatened to use his power as a councilman to tie up, shut down the whole project so that no work could be finished and nobody could get paid. And in the midst of the project you will hear he literally took Ricardo Teamor for a ride. All of this is going on and he shakes him down for thousands of dollars in campaign contributions. And you will hear he got them.10 11 12 13 14 15 16 7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 169 But you'll learn that defendant Joe Jones didn't get these contributions in a normal way. The evidence is going to show that in May of 2001 he got a $2,000 campaign contribution from a person named Dwight Roach. In fact, congratulations, Mr. Roach, the evidence is going to show that he was the single largest individual contributor of the Joe Jones re-election campaign in that election year. | The problem is, the evidence is also going | to show that Joe Jones had never spoken to Dwight | Roach in his life, because the money was really coming from Ricardo Teamor. It was funneled through Dwight Roach to Joe Jones because it was dirty money, and it made it so that Ricardo Teamor would not show up as a big money contributer on that financial report. And you will also hear that Joe Jones backed off his threats to shut down that job. But Councilman Jones wasn't done. You will hear how he worked through Nate Gray to get even more money out of Ricardo Teamor in early 2002. And this time, because the court authorized electronic surveillance was up, you are going to hear recorded conversations about how Mr. Teamor is ae10 1. 12 13 14 15 16 a7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 170 mistrustful of Councilman Jones. who wouldn't be after that last experience? And wants to insure again that he pledges allegiance if the money is going to continue. But the things of value that were given to Councilman Jones, they were they were not limited to campaign contributions. At the end of 2002, you are going to hear that Councilman Jones was getting married and he needed money. Money to pay to a diamond ring for his fiancee. Money for a honeymoon in the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean. And Councilman Jones was having trouble getting a loan And you'll hear how he didn't like paying interest. Who does? Will the evidence show that he got a smaller diamond? Will the evidence show that he sealed back to a Niagra Falls honeymoon? No. He went to Nate Gray and Ricardo Teamor for that money And you will hear that yourself. You will hear him ask for an $8,000 interest free loan from them, He doesn't just ask for the money once, but you will hear him follow up again and again as his wedding was getting closer. And you will hear what he pledged as collateral on that interest free loan. Not the ring, not his car10 ay 12 13 14 15 16 a7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 28 qk he pledged his office as collateral You'll hear that he traded his faithful and loyal services, free from any conflicts of interest, to Nate Gray and Ricardo Teamor, because he wanted that interest free loan, It was interest free but there were strings attached And you will hear Joe Jones on tape. You will hear the times he actually asked Nate Gray for that $8,000 interest free loan. On that same phone call you'll hear him pledge support for Ricardo Teamor's law firm, which was doing a public contract and was in trouble with City Council. And then the day that he picks up the $5,000 check at Nate Gray's office, you are going to see with your own eyes, you are going to see Councilman Jones in Nate Gray's office getting that check and then taking an assignment on a matter that was before City Council like an errand boy. And the evidence is also going to show how the parties to this transaction, especially Councilman Jones, were careful to conceal this $5,000. First of all, the check wasn't written to Councilman Jones who was standing there, it was written to his wife. Okay. And you are going to10 qn 12 13 14 15 16 a7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 172 hear Nate Gray actually has to ask for the name as he's writing the check You'll also hear that the entire time that Councilman Jones is indebted to Nate Gray, he concealed that fact on his signed, sworn financial disclosure statements that he sends to the Ohio Ethics Commission. It's a public document that public officials file so that we know who they are indebted to, Even though those very things are called for, he leaves them off. And think about it. You will hear that even though he's repaying that loan month by month, you will hear the call, he keeps going, literally going to Nate Gray's office every month for the check for $500 to be paid that month. That's not something that's easy to forget. During that period he's doing it ever month. Twice. Not once, but twice for two years. He leaves that off his financial disclosure statements. Moving away from Councilman Joe Jones but still staying in the City of Cleveland, before we go out of state. I want to tell you about another area of the Gray Enterprises corrupt activities in Northeast Ohio, and that deals with the Cleveland10 ql 12 13 14 15 16 7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 173 Water Department. Now the evidence in this section of the case is going to relate to the overall conspiracy that's charged in Count 1. And the evidence will show that as part of this conduct, the same corrupt pattern of the Gray Enterprise provides something of value. Get contract. Now as I told you, Gilbert Jackson was a Senior Vice President for a national engineering firm called Camp, Dresser & MeKee. And you will learn that between 1996 and 2003 that firm, Camp, Dresser & McKee, received about 15 million dollars worth of contracting work from the City of Cleveland Water Division. And you will also hear that right when they started seeking that work, the public official who heads that department, a person named Commissioner Julius Johnson, told CDM, if you want to get contracts you ought to look into hiring defendant Nate Gray. And they did. They started paying this firm, Nate Gray, thousands of dollars a month. And who was his prime contact at CDM? Gilbert Jackson. So you have millions of dollars of contracts going to having retaining Nate Gray, and10 11 12 13 14 15 16 a7 1s 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 14 you have Gilbert Jackson as his main contact. The evidence will show this was no coincidence Although it is not separate charges, a separate section aside from Count 1, the evidence is really going to give you insight into the way Gilbert Jackson and Nate Gray operated this enterprise. And you'll hear that they got three separate Water Division contracts over that period I'l going go through them quickly one by one. First in 1996. You will hear shortly after CDM hires Nate Gray, within months Gilbert Jackson goes to his colleagues with a strange request. MR, JENKINS: Objection to the word strange, your Honor. THE COURT: Overruled. MR. DETTELBACH: He said, Nate Gray needs and extra $425 every month above and beyond the amount that we just signed this contract for. Now first, you will hear that he's hesitant to say why he needs an extra $425 to go to Mr. Gray. But they say, you know, he got enough, Mr. Jackson. And eventually he tells them. He tells them that Commissioner Julius Ciacci's10 qi 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 24 25 175 daughter has just been admitted to college and the Commissioner needs money, and the plan is to funnel it through Nate Gray. Well, Gilbert Jackson got that approval from his corporation, and Nate Gray got that extra $425 a month, and Camp, Dresser & McKee got a $7.1 million contract with the City of Cleveland Water Division. You will hear that's not the last thing of value that CDM and its Senior Vice President, Gilbert Jackson, and its Consultant Nate Gray, gave to a public official, and it's not the last big contract they got in the City of Cleveland. You will hear that the extra money being sent to Nate Gray every month continued. In fact, it grew over time, as did Mr. Gray's monthly retainer. And you will also hear that in addition to Mr. Gray's close relationship with Julius Ciacci, there was another important relationship going on here. And you'll hear it on tape. You'll hear defendant Gray describe himself as, quote, the "right hand man" of the person who was the Mayor of Cleveland at that time, a person named Michael White. And you will hear10 11 12 13 14 15 16 a7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 176 about how Gilbert Jackson and Nate Gray arranged to hold a fundraiser for Mayor White in New Orleans. And then 2001 came around, and the next big Cleveland Water Division contract was up. This one, $5 million, more or less. Who got it? Camp, Dresser & McKee. And you'll hear about the decisional process for awarding that contract. You will hear there is a ranking and scoring system among the bidders. And when it didn't come out so that COM won, they rigged it. They redid the scoring so that Camp, Dresser & McKee would win the contract. And speaking of scoring, you are going to hear that during this same two year period, you are going to see a document that will show you that Nate Gray took this Water Commissioner, Julius Ciacci, to see the Indians 22 times In fact, you are going to hear with your own ears conversations between the defendant Nate Gray and Gilbert Jackson. They are literally a two man entertainment center for Julius Ciacci. And finally in 2003, while this court ordered electronic surveillance is going on, Camp, Dresser & McKee is bidding for its next multi-million dollar contract with the City of10 a. 12 13 14 15 16 7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 47 Cleveland Water Division. And you are going to be able to hear for yourself, because there are now tapes, just how captivating Nate Gray and Gilbert Jackson are when it comes to public contracts. They even boil charity down to a quid pro quo; this for that. You will hear that the City of Cleveland, including Commissioner Ciacci, is pressing Camp, Dresser & McKee for a $25,000 contribution for a scholarship fund, right at the same time as Nate Gray and Gilbert Jackson are helping compete for these contracts. This is a scholarship so that poor kids could go to school in the City of Cleveland. Now remember, you will hear that when that this happens Camp, Dresser & McKee has already gotten almost §32 million in contracts from the City of Cleveland Water Division. Nate Gray, you'll see, has already made thousands and thousands of dollars for himself from that relationship. But how do these two men, Nate Gray and Gilbert Jackson, view this request for charity? You will hear with your own ears and see the e-mails with your own eyes, there was no way that Nate Gray and Gilbert Jackson were going to let Camp, Dresser & McKee make that charitable donation10 a. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 178 for thousands unless they could link it to millions of dollars in public funds. And you are going to hear Gilbert Jackson actions in his own words. No one is giving up that kind of money unless something is in return. Let me be clear. This evidence isn't being offered to you as a separately charged crime. It's there to show you how these two defendants, Nate Gray and Gilbert Jackson, view the world of public contracting. You give something, you get something back. Now let's leave the state, and let's talk about what the evidence will show about how this conspiracy operated in Gilbert Jackson's home city of New Orleans, Louisiana. And you are going to see that when the Gray Enterprise took its act to New Orleans, it was the same pattern, but people had slightly different roles In Cleveland, it was Nate Gray's home turf, and Gilbert Jackson worked for the big out of town corporation, so Nate Gray was the one who knew who to pay off and how to do it, But in New Orleans where Gilbert Jackson lived, you will see and hear that it was he who called that shot You will hear that in New Orleans that10 12 12 13 14 15 16 a7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 179 Nate Gray had another corporate client that was interested in doing business. his was a company, a big one called Honeywell Corporation. And they are a massive international company that had Nate Gray on a monthly retainer for thousands of dollars. And you'll hear that Mr. Gray's chief contact there was a person named Brent Jividen. And in 2002, you'll hear that this Honeywell company is trying for a public contract in New Orleans. They are trying from the Housing Authority, it's called HANO, Housing Authority of New Orleans. And they are having some trouble, so they call Nate Gray. And you will then see how Nate Gray and Gilbert Jackson spring into action in New Orleans. And the evidence is going to show that Gilbert Jackson is not doing this out of charity Because in addition to being a Senior Vice President at Camp, Dresser & McKee, you are going to follow the money. You are going to see he's on Nate Gray's own payroll also. Unfortunately, for Gilbert Jackson and Nate Gray, there was court authorized electronic surveillance on Nate Gray's phones in January and February of 2002. And I say unfortunately because10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 180 you will hear literally within a one month period you are going to actually hear Nate Gray and Gilbert Jackson on tape conspire, agree with each other, to bribe a public official. The crime, the conspiracy will happen on tape. You will hear it You will hear Gilbert Jackson showing off to the Honeywell people about his big connections in New Orleans. Then you will hear Nate Gray and Gilbert Jackson talk alone and agree that Nate Gray would send a check for $2,500 to Gilbert Jackson, and Gilbert Jackson would, as he put it, flip it toa guy named Vince Sylvain, a person who worked for the Mayor of New Orleans on housing issues. Then you are going to see the actual check and the FedEx label with Gilbert Jackson's home address on it for that check. And then you are going to hear another discussion between Defendant Gray and Defendant Jackson where they discuss that Sylvain has gotten back to Gilbert Jackson that he wants to, quote, do business and to be part of a, quote, long term thing. And you will hear Nate Gray's response, "and that's no problem.” You are going to hear the agreement. And10 qt 12 13 14 15 16 aq 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 181 to an extent it worked. You'll hear that about a week or 10 days after Nate Gray FedEx'd that money down to New Orleans that Honeywell did get a meeting with the senior people at this organization, HANO. And that that's significant getting into the senior levels for this kind of project. You will also hear that HANO ran into serious financial difficulties, actually went into bankruptcy or receivership in that very year. You are going to hear that didn't deter Nate Gray and Gilbert Jackson. You will hear that working with Brent Jividen they had big plans to take this corrupt show on a nationwide road trip. You are going to hear them discussing 50 cities in five years, each one. You will hear that the Mayors, Congressmen and Councilman, which are referred to as, quote, expenses. These aren't just hypothetical plans. You are going to hear about real cities and real people. But the city you are going to hear the most about is the City of Houston, Texas, which is the next big section. The evidence is going to show that the Gray Enterprise was pursuing several different