Former East St. Louis political godfather Charlie Powell is perplexed. According to a lawsuit filed by Fairview Heights attorney Penni S. Livingston, former head of ESL regulatory affairs Robert Betts and Powell allegedly conspired to “wrongfully” profit by retrieving salvage from two properties located on St. Louis Avenue in East St. Louis.
The lawsuit insinuates that Betts likely received kickbacks resulting from steering work to Powell Demolition, issuing demolition permits and keeping the owners of the properties in the dark about the pending demolitions.
Additionally, the lawsuit infers that Powell is an arsonist who burns or pays others to torch properties in order to create salvage opportunities for his business.
Powell told the Belleville News-Democrat that “I just can’t imagine that anyone who knows me would think that’s what I have to do to get a job…I’ve got more work than I can handle. I don’t go around torching other people’s property.”
Powell’s rap sheet includes federal prison time for buying votes in 2006 and an additional sentence in 2007 for the illegal removal of asbestos from the old Spivey Building in East Boogie.
He might be a convicted vote thief who has performed shoddy (and illegal) asbestos abatement, but that doesn’t mean that he’d stoop to torching buildings and stealing bricks, right?
The lawsuit fails to include any witness statements or criminal histories and is more circumstantial than anything, including photos of emergency demolition orders issued to Powell’s Demolition. So the lawsuit could possibly generate more heat than light.
And, at 73 years of age, a return visit to prison should be the last thing on Charlie Powell’s to-do list for 2017.
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com; Twitter@JamesTIngram.
