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Two Democrats, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, are facing prison for public corruption.
The pair is accused of awarding multi-million dollar contracts to Democratic insiders in exchange for cash.
Defense lawyer and Houston Law School professor Carmen Roe explained that both cases have “a value of greater than $300,000,” which makes them first-degree felonies.
“Which means they carry a possible punishment range of a minimum of five years in prison up to life in prison,” Roe said.
“What we do know is: very suspicious, highly irregular and could lead to criminal charges,” Roe said.
A contract was awarded to Elevate Strategies, which is run by Democratic insider Felicity Pereyra, for $11 million dollars. Pereyra backed the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016.
Hidalgo is facing intense scrutiny for handing the contract to Pereyra.
On the other hand, Houston Mayor Turner is accused of corruption by former Houston Housing and Community Development Director Tom McCasland.
Turner handed a $15 million dollar housing contract to Harbor Venture Group where his former law partner, Barry Barnes, is in charge.
As mayor, Turner had the power to award contracts without the input or approval of others.
Turner allegedly went against staff recommendations for the contract to build senior housing in the city.
Staff recommended awarding four contracts totaling $16.2 million for 350 housing units, but instead the whole contract went to Turner’s former law partner.
More on this story via Fox News:
A mix of industry experts and county officials told the local Fox News affiliate, FOX 26, that Elevate Strategies did not even meet the basic requirements to engage in an endeavor of this scope. Additionally, the experts and officials said that there was no way that Elevate Strategies could have met the strict financial requirements for bidding on county contracts.
Harris County requires annual billing records dating back five years as well as an audited income statement and a qualifying balance sheet.
— Advertisement — But Elevate Strategies reportedly wasn’t required to provide financial statements during the bidding process.
A spokesperson for Hidalgo previously told FOX 26 that Pereyra’s firm has worked with the county on projects before, including the most recent census.
Hidalgo canceled the deal amid scrutiny but thousands of dollars were still paid to Elevate Strategies by the county as the arrangement imploded.
Turner made local headlines when he was accused of corruption by former Houston Housing and Community Development Director Tom McCasland regarding a $15 million housing contract the mayor allegedly moved to award to a “co-developer” firm – the Harbor Venture Group – where his former law partner, Barry Barnes, is in charge.
Turner, who has near unilateral authority to award city contracts as Houston mayor, has denied the allegations, saying he didn’t know Barnes was involved with the company awarded the contract and claiming there was “no conflict” with the contract.
