In our city’s 258-year history, there likely has never been the political shake-up that we’ve seen in the last week. Political scandals, sure. From the relatively recent resignation of former alderman Larry Arnowitz in 2020, to Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner’s messy prosecution of former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, St. Louis has seen elected official after elected official suffer consequences for misusing and abusing the powers of their office. Our former circuit attorney George Peachgot caught in a 1992 sting operation when he tried to solicit an undercover police officer for sex – after years of prosecuting hundreds of sex crimes. We’re a city known for its dueling families, usually fighting to elect their own allegedly corrupt government officials. St. Louis is no stranger to political turmoil and sudden upheavals of power.
But none of that history could have prepared our city for the federal grand jury’s May 25 indictment, unsealed and released into the public record on June 2. The Indictment found that there was enough evidence to criminally charge not just one but three – elected city officials, including now-former president of the Board of Aldermen Lewis Reed, and former aldermen Jeffrey Boyd and John Collins- Muhammad. Each man was indicted on at least two white collar felonies, with Boyd charged under a separate, additional case related to forgery of auto registration documents and attempting to defraud a North Carolina auto insurance company. Collins-Muhammad resigned from the Board in early May, likely after receiving a notice from the federal grand jury. Boyd resigned last Friday afternoon, following his appearance at the weekly full Board meeting in a vain attempt to pass a tax abatement – less than 24 hours after pleading “not guilty” to taking bribes related to tax abatements.
… after calls from his colleagues and other elected officials – and dozens of protesters in front of his house – Reed finally announced that he would be stepping down from his position, effective immediately.
Reed remained the sole hold-out after last week’s initial appearance and arraignment, refusing to resign until Tuesday of this week. But after calls from his colleagues and other elected officials – and dozens of protesters in front of his house – Reed finally announced that he would be stepping down from his position, effective immediately.
The seven-count, 66-page document is made mostly of transcribed audio recordings of each alderman taking a bribe or discussing a previous bribe in relation to at least two tax abatements.
With all the media coverage over the last week, this week’s EYE is piecing The Indictment’s timeline together, connecting some dots, and some (informed) speculation of what’s to come.
How did we get here?
The timeline of the two-and-a-half year federal investigation into the now-former aldermen Boyd, Collins-Muhammad, and Reed actually stretches back to May 2017, when 35 people were separately indicted by a grand jury in the federal court in downtown St. Louis. Although that seemingly unrelated case dealt with a drug ring and money laundering, it centered around “Abu Ali,” or Muhammed Almuttan, an area business owner with dozens of properties across North City and North County. In late April of this year, five of Almuttan’s six federal charges through the 2017 case were dismissed – just a few weeks before Collins Muhammad’s resignation on May 11. Two days later, on May 13, the St. Louis Development Corp. [SLDC] shared that it had received a federal subpoena requesting information related to two North City properties that had received tax abatements.
One of those abatements was in Collins-Muhammad’s ward; the other was in Boyd’s ward.
As it turns out, both properties were owned by Almuttan, and for two and a half years, he apparently wore a wire and allowed his phone to be recorded by federal investigators. It appears to be every conversation with Boyd, Collins-Muhammad, and Reed. Dozens of those discussions, as it turns out, included the exchange of numerous cash payments for the aldermen’s support of tax abatement bills to save Almuttan hundreds of thousands of dollars in property taxes.
In other words, a bribe.
The indictment’s transcribed audio recordings include instance after instance where the aldermen not only accept cash bribes from Almuttan at that moment, but even discuss bribes exchanged – all captured on the federal informant’s wire.
On page 47, for instance, on July 30, 2020, “John Doe” (Almuttan) asks Collins Muhammad, “John do you remember when you told me to give [Boyd] 2,000, 25? 3,000? I gave him 25, but I forgot to put it in the envelope.” Collins-Muhammad responds that Boyd was okay with the previous cash payment that Almuttan had given him, related to a tax abatement deal.
On page 19, Almuttan allegedly gave Reed $2,000 in cash for Reed’s assistance in helping Almuttan’s business partner obtain Minority Business Enterprise (“MBE”) certification. Businesses with MBE certifications can be prioritized in awarding of city and state-funded contracts, so there is a clear benefit to obtaining that certification. However, your elected official’s direct involvement (and paid, at that) is not necessary to apply for or receive that status. Reed comments on the sound made by the ATM, as noted in the transcribed recordings: “That’s nice. That…that’s nice,” he said, as he allegedly collected the bribe money from Almuttan.
But pages nine and 10 include a detailed exchange between Almuttan and Collins Muhammad described by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Tony Messenger as “a scene out of Fargo,” where a $2,500 cash payment from Almuttan meant for a “Public Official One” was allegedly used by Collins-Muhammad to purchase a 2008 Chevy Trailblazer. Almuttan later gave Collins Muhammad a 2016 Volkswagen CC in exchange for the alderman’s assistance in completing a tax abatement project in the 21st Ward.
We at the EYE believe that every person accused of a crime is innocent until they have been proven guilty. However, when a public official’s role relies first and foremost upon public trust, as noted by Alderwoman Christine Ingrassia (Ward 6), “the broken trust within the community and the seriousness of the allegations against [Reed] make it impossible for [him] to continue in [his] role.” Alderwoman Tina Pihl (Ward 17) said Reed’s “trust has been eroded and there is a cloud over the BOA and government.” Alderman Bret Narayan (Ward 24), one of several attorneys on the Board, stated that “[w]hile the presumption of innocence is paramount, the distractions, disruptions, and lack of confidence that will certainly arise moving forward should President Reed refuse to resign is detrimental…”
Other aldermen who called for Reed’s resignation included Annie Rice (Ward 8), Dan Guenther (Ward 9), Bill Stephens (Ward 12), Anne Schweitzer (Ward 13), Megan-Ellyia Green (Ward 15), Cara Spencer (Ward 20), Shane Cohn (Ward 25), and Michael Gras (Ward 28).
Notably, the aldermen who remained silent on calling for Reed to step down were Sharon Tyus (Ward 1), Lisa Middlebrook (Ward 2), Brandon Bosley (Ward 3), Dwinderlin Evans (Ward 4), James Page (Ward 5), Jack Coatar (Ward 7), Joseph Vollmer (Ward 10), Carol Howard (Ward 14), Tom Oldenburg (Ward 16), Jesse Todd (Ward 18), Marlene Davis (19), Joseph Vaccaro (Ward 23), Shameem Clark Hubbard (Ward 26), and Pamela Boyd (Ward 27).
There presently are no aldermen representing Wards 11, 21, and 22, and there were no Northside aldermen who called for Reed’s resignation.
Other elected officials who made public statements advocating for Reed’s resignation include State Rep. Rasheen Alridge (D-78), 15 members of the St. Louis City Democratic Central Committee, and St. Louis City Treasurer Adam Layne. Mayor Tishaura O. Jones expressed her disappointment in the allegations against her former political rival, stating “[t]he troubling charges brought by the US Attorney pull back the curtain to highlight how those elected may exploit our city for their own benefit and profit.”
There have, of course, been other casualties in Almuttan’s wake. Also on Tuesday of this week, a now-fired employee of the St. Louis County Executive’s Office appeared for his own federal arraignment.Tony Weaver, who worked as a legislative aide for former county councilwoman, Rochelle Walton Gray, before his appointment by County Executive Sam Page, stood with his attorney and pleaded “not guilty” to his own set of white collar crimes. Weaver has been accused by a federal grand jury of fraudulently seeking to obtain COVID relief funds for a local businessman and to split the funds, landing a four-count indictment for wire fraud. According to the indictment, one of the four applications submitted with Weaver’s assistance received COVID relief funds, and Page’s office has cited the safeguards put in place after disgraced former county executive Steve Stenger’s departure. Stenger’s former campaign manager and advisor, police mouthpiece Jane Dueker, is challenging incumbent Page for the County Executive seat. Dueker had been noticeably quiet as she sees some of her political allies continue to fall and her campaign flounder.
Who looked the other way?
The last week has been … complicated … for the Post-Dispatch. On Monday of this week, the editorial board predictably came to Reed’s defense, calling upon his “15 years of experience as the aldermanic president” in an effort to cleanse him of his white collar transgressions. The Post historically takes Reed’s side most of the time – even when it’s the wrong side. Included are the failed airport privatization, the scandal-tainted Better Together, and multiple, unsuccessful runs for mayor. After public outcry against the editorial board’s apparent position of “backroom deals are actually good for the city and there should be more,” its tone shifted somewhat on Tuesday, calling Reed a “badly wounded lame duck.” The editorial board even went so far as to say that it “was time for Reed to go,” but we remember in the city’s last major election cycle in spring 2021, when that same editorial board with largely the same members called Reed “a pragmatist who recognizes that real reform rarely happens overnight” and said he had “coalition-building patience.” Needless to say, times are going to continue to be dismal for the Post’s editorial board’s influence on City politics in the coming months.
Another factor to consider: Reed’s historic political ally, the St. Louis Kansas City Carpenters Regional Council, had its own foundation shaken back in March, when the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council filed a federal lawsuit against the St. Louis chapter, accusing its leadership of unauthorized salary raises and mismanaging organizational funds. A few weeks later, an attorney for former union chief Al Bonddisclosed in a public court record that the Department of Justice was investigating the Carpenters Regional Council. Although the CRC allegedly was dissolved in September 2021, the organization managed to distribute the remains of its $2.3 million war chest to the Mid-America Regional Council in two separate payments. The PAC’s disclosures reported to the state campaign finance authority have not shown any itemized contributions, despite the PAC receiving more than $700,000 in contributions between announcing its dissolution and liquidation PAC assets.
Since taking office as president of the Board of Aldermen in 2007, Reed has taken hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars from the Carpenters Regional Council’s political action committee, Carpenters Help in the Political Process (or “CHIPP”). Needless to say, the Carpenters Regional Council is faced with the task of cleaning up its own messy, allegedly corrupt house.
Reed was no stranger to crafting deals which helped developers with pockets of all sizes. From Clayco developer Bob Clark to NorthSide Regeneration failed developer Paul McKee, Reed has received tens of thousands of dollars from them, as well, as he helped to push through aldermanic legislation that divests tax revenue used to fund St. Louis Public Schools. Throughout the indictment, Almuttan references the hundreds of thousands of dollars that the abatement schemes would help him save – in other words, at direct cost to SLPS students and teachers.
Finally – has anyone checked on Antonio French yet? One of Reed’s loudest supporters, French launched his “Northsider” and “Southsider” publication project to mostly applaud Reed’s lackluster leadership. French joined the Post-Dispatch editorial board in 2020 and has viciously attacked Mayor Jones while simultaneously ignoring Reed’s antics. French previously held the aldermanic seat that Collins-Muhammad eventually filled. As an op-ed columnist for the Post, French has only penned three columns in 2022, all three trash talking Mayor Jones.
Where do we go from here?
While Alderman Joe Vollmer (Ward 10) has already claimed the role of interim Board President, the power struggle to control the Board of Aldermen for the next five months may not be over. Vollmer, to whom Reed relinquished his powers as “acting” board president, became the de facto vice president of the Board of Aldermen following Boyd’s resignation on Friday. He is expected to lead as board president until the November general election.
Insiders at the Board of Aldermen do not believe that the three now-resigned aldermen are the only elected officials who received letters from the federal grand jury. At least two other aldermen are believed to be under their own federal investigations at this time, although it is unclear if those inquiries are related to the Reed/Boyd/Collins Muhammad indictment. Both City officials allegedly under inquiry have their own storied histories of tax abatements and making deals with deep-pocket developers.
There’s also the issue of “Public Official One” – the unidentified elected official with ties to at least the 21st Ward tax abated property who was willing to accept $10,000 in cash payments from Almuttan. Not all of the funds were delivered to “Public Official One’s” campaign account (see 2008 Chevy Trailblazer, above), but the fact remains that the official was apparently willing to accept cash bribes in exchange for political favors.
While the identity of “Public Official One” is likely to be publicly disclosed in the coming months, there has already been plenty of speculation about the identity of “Public Official One” on social media and among political insiders, but no established facts have been offered to the public yet…but stay tuned.
The two $5,000 checks were never cashed or deposited, but the exchange and the intent to accept the bribes nevertheless allegedly happened and St. Louisans have the right to know which elected officials chose to participate in alleged government corruption.
In the meantime, other city departments are bringing the tax abatement application process to an immediate halt in light of the grand jury’s findings. On Tuesday, the St. Louis Development Corp. (SLDC) announced that it was “freezing” the new application process as the economic development agency reviews its property-purchasing process. The ban will extend through October, and while a consultant’s assessment of the current purchasing process recommended major changes a month before the indictment, the timing of the freeze is believed to be in direct response to the revelations about the indicted trio’s abuse of SLDC and the City’s Land Reutilization Act (LRA) properties. The grand jury’s indictment included multiple references to “L.C.,” who could be Laura Costello, the former real estate director at SLDC. Costello was fired from SLDC in early April, although the reasons for her termination remain unclear. Given the timing of both her termination and The Indictment, we cannot help but wonder if the two events are related.
One thing is certain: the earthquake within St. Louis politics will result in a new, uncharted landscape after the dust has settled. How that landscape will be reshaped and its impact has yet to be determined. At a minimum, the EYE has hope and confidence that we will experience a more prosperous, healthy future for St. Louis and all of the people in this city.
