ST. LOUIS – Three days after a fellow former member of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen pleaded guilty to corruption charges tied to proposed tax abatement, two others have pleaded guilty in U.S. District federal court Friday.
Former Aldermanic President Lewis Reed and former 22nd Ward Alderman Jeffrey Boyd are also accused in the same incident.
Tuesday, former 21st Ward Alderman John Collins-Muhammad pled guilty to Bribery Concerning Programs Receiving Federal Funds, one count of a violation of the Travel Act, and one count of Honest Services Fraud. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 6.
All three were charged in June. Collins-Muhammad resigned in May. Boyd and Reed both resigned in June.
Reed pleaded guilty to two bribery-related charges and admitted to cash bribes from a businessman identified in court documents as "John Doe" to help Doe obtain Minority Business Enterprise certificaton and win city trucking and hauling contracts, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. He accepted a total of $6,000 in cash and $3,500 in campaign contributions for helping Doe.
Reed also admitted to accepting $9,000 in cash bribes to get a property tax abatement for a Doe-owned property located in the ward of former alderman Collins-Muhammed. They worked together to pass the board bill providing the property tax abatement.
Boyd pleaded guilty in a separate hearing to two bribery-related charges related to a land purchase in his ward and two counds of wire fraud in an unrelated insurance fraud scheme, accoding to the press release. He admitted to accepting $9,500 in cash bribes from Doe in exchange to helping Doe obtain a commerical property on Geraldine Avenue in his ward from the city's Land Reutilization Authority.
Boyd did this by convincing the LRA staff to accept Doe's $14,000 bid. The LRA originally listed property's worth at $50,000, according to the press release.
Boyd also accpeted free repairs from Doe for two vehicles that he owned, as well as issued an aldermanic support letter for a property tax abatement for Doe's property and helped Doe prepare a tax abatement application and submitted and sponsored a board bill that provided the substantial tax abatement for the property.
The insurance fraud scheme happened after the Jan. 16, 2021, vehicle accident on Doe's used car lot in Jennings, Missouri, according to the press release. Three cars owned by Doe and one owned by Boyd's used car company were damaged in the crash. The Best Place Auto Sales located on Dr. Martin Luther King Drive was there for repairs.
The press release states that Boyd suggested Doe falsely claim that his company owned the vehicles after learning his insurance would not cover the damage.
Boyd falsified and backdated vehicle sales records and Missouri Department of Revenue documents claiming that Boyd had paid $22,000 for the vehicles on Jan. 2. Doe's insurance denied the claims and both deceided to submit the claim under Boyd's company's insurance and split any proceeds, according to the press release.
Boyd also falsely tried to claim a $200 daily storage fee for the damaged vehicles and his insurance company ultimately rejected the claim despite trying to have his insurance agent intervene.
The sentencing for both Reed and Boyd are set for Dec. 6. One of Reed and Boyd's bribery charges has a 10-year maximum and the other has a five-year maximum, according to the press release. Each charge could result in a $250,000 fine. Boyd's wire fraud charges has a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Both will be required to pay restitution equal to the value of the cash bribes and other things o fvaule receieved during the schemes, according to the press release. The FBI investigated the casae and Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith is prosecuting.