Oct 2, 2007 12:40 pm US/Central
Potashnik, Family Plead Not Guilty To Charges
(CBS 11 News)
-
-
Brian and Cheryl Potashnik, owners of Southwest Housing, are accused of bribing local officials in exchange for their approval to build low income housing. (File photo)
CBS 11 News
-
-
Brian Potashnik and former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller in a still from a commercial. (File Photo)
CBS 11 News
Brian Potashnik, the developer at the heart of the FBI's affordable housing corruption probe and one of the 16 indicted, his wife and his father arrived at the federal courthouse about 7:25 a.m.
The elder Potashnik stands accused of tax evasion. Brian and Cheryl Potashnik ran Southwest Housing and are accused of bribing local officials in exchange for their approval to build low income housing and the lucrative tax credits and fees that go along with them.
All three appeared before a federal judge late this morning and pleaded not guilty.
In a statement issued through the law firm McDermott Will & Emery, Brian Potashnik asked people to give he and his family the benefit of the doubt.
"Despite 27 months of cooperation, the prosecutors have brought unfair and cruel charges against me, my 73-year-old father and my wife, the mother of our two young sons," Potashnik said in the statement.
"As we begin this fight to prove our innocence, we ask for people to wait for the facts and give us the benefit of the doubt we have worked so hard to earn."
On Monday, federal prosecutors named the main players in the scheme as former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill; Hill's current wife and former political consultant Sheila Farrington; and former Dallas plan commissioner D'angelo Lee.
State Rep. Terri Hodge also was named in the indictment. Former Dallas City Councilman James Fantroy was named in a separate indictment. He was accused of taking federal grant money intended for Paul Quinn college.
Hodge, Fantroy, Hill, Lee, Farrington and two others indicted all turned themselves in to federal marshals on Monday and pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Six other targets of the investigation named have been ordered to appear in federal court on Wednesday.
With the accusations now public, federal prosecutors are defending the lengthy two year investigation.
If convicted on all counts, those accused face possible prison sentences of as much as 100 years or more, and millions in fines.
Here's A Look At The Top Stories Today On CBS11TV.COM:
14 Indicted In Dallas City Hall Corruption Case Dallas Neighborhood Cheers As Hotel Torn Down SLIDESHOW: Gay Celebrities
VIDEO: Champion Drag Racer John Force Talks About Crash VIDEO: Ashley Force Talks About Her Dad's Drag Race Crash Texas Oilman Pleads Guilty In Oil For Food Scandal VIDEO: Examining The Boy Scouts Of America SLIDESHOW: Mysterious Blobs At Lake Grapevine SLIDESHOW: 46 Weird Photos
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
