Oct 1, 2007 9:50 am US/Central
Hill, Hodge, Fantroy, 11 Others Indicted
by Jack Fink
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
Former Dallas City Councilman Don Hill, his wife and former political consultant Sheila Farrington, and State Representative Terri Hodge have all surrendered to Federal Marshals at the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Dallas this morning after being indicted by a federal grand jury.
The FBI has been investigating all three, and others, as part of a two-year investigation into corruption at Dallas City Hall.
Last week, CBS 11 News was first to report that indictments in the case were imminent. This morning we have learned 14 people have been indicted by a federal grand jury. Those who were indicted were told to come to the courthouse this morning and surrender to Federal Marshals.
Sources tell CBS 11 News that among those who are surrendering today are:
- Former Dallas City Councilman Don Hill
- Hill's wife and former political consultant Sheila Farrington
- Former Dallas City Councilman James Fantroy
- State Representative Terri Hodge
- Former Dallas Plan Commission member D'Angelo Lee
- Darren Reagan, with the Black State Employees Association
- and former NFL player Kevin Dean.
The remaining seven people who are under indictment will surrender later this week.
U.S. Attorney Richard Roper will hold a news conference about the indictments today at 11 a.m. The first court appearances will take place before Federal Judge William Sanderson later today.
On Sunday, Fantroy told CBS 11 his attorney had told him he would be among those indicted, and to be ready to go to court.
On Friday, Fantroy said he rejected a deal offered by prosecutors that would have kept him out of prison as long as he pleaded guilty and testified on the government's behalf. He didn't think long about the answer. "No, I'm not pleading guilty to something I didn't do," he said.
The investigation went public in June of 2005 when the FBI raided former Mayor Pro-Tem Don Hill's city hall office, house and car. Fantroy's security business and Lee's car were also searched.
The investigation centered around allegations of bribery in connection with affordable housing projects built by Southwest Housing and its owner, Brian Potashnik.
Fantroy says he was told Sunday that he will face an embezzlement charge in connection with allegations $50,000 turned up missing from a community development corporation related to Paul Quinn College. He was the organization's treasurer and says the allegations are false.
CBS 11 News reporter Robbie Owens contributed to this story.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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