John Wiley Price arrested - it is on

[BigTex]

DMN:

Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price was arrested Friday morning by the FBI.

A sealed indictment filed Wednesday lists the following charges against Price:


Conspiracy to Commit Bribery Concerning a Local Government Receiving Federal Benefits

Deprivation of Honest Services by Mail Fraud and Aiding and Abetting

Conspiracy to Defraud the Internal Revenue Service

Subscribing to a False and Fraudulent U.S. Individual Income Tax Return

The indictement alleges that from 2001-11, Nealy provided "concealed financial benefits" to Price totaling $950,231. The indictment refers to the funds as "a continuous stream of bribe payments."

Nancy Kennedy, Fain's attorney, told The Dallas Morning News that Fain had been charged but did not know what the charges are and had not been arrested.

"We're going to turn Dapheny in," Kennedy said.

Attorney Billy Ravkind, who said he learned of Price's arrest from media reports, said a pretrial bond hearing is scheduled for this afternoon.

"Next time we want to know something, we'll call the press," he said. "I guess I haven't been around long enough. I've never had this happen before. You win or lose cases in the courtroom. What the government does is irrelevant."

Ravkind said he has spoken to the prosecutor but not Price, who he said may be released pending an afternoon bond hearing.

The U.S. Attorney's Office has scheduled a press conference at 11 a.m. at the Earle Cabell Federal Building in downtown Dallas. The indictment will be revealed at that time, and federal officials will issue a statement at that time.

Price was arrested about 8 a.m.

The federal investigation of Price, Fain and Nealy came to light in June 2011 when authorities raided the offices and home of Price and other properties connected to the group. All three have previously denied any wrongdoing.

As part of that investigation, federal agents seized almost $230,000 from Price's safe after executing a search warrant at his home in 2011. They also seized just over $230,000 in proceeds from property Price sold to a Dallas-area developer.

Price has claimed ownership of $115,000 found in the safe as well as the money from the land sale. Fain has claimed the remaining money found in the safe.

The U.S. attorney's office filed the civil forfeiture in an attempt to keep that money, saying it is the proceeds of crimes. Price and Fain say the money came from legitimate business dealings.

[Sangersteve]

FBI agents on Friday arrested Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price and unsealed a criminal indictment naming three other co-defendants, ushering in a new chapter in what is arguably the most high-profile public corruption investigation in Dallas history.

The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, which is leading the investigation of Price, is expected to announce the specific charges at an 11 a.m. news conference.

A 106-page federal corruption indictment, filed under seal on July 23, is now public. It outlines a web of mail fraud, tax fraud, bribery and other malfeasance allegedly led by Price.

Also charged is Price's top assistant, Dapheny Fain, who surrendered to the FBI this morning, according to her attorney Tom Mills. Political consultant Kathy Nealy, a close Price associate, is also a defendant in the case. Her attorney could not be reached. Nealy was expected to surrender Friday. A fourth defendant, Christian Lloyd Campbell, is also charged. According to the indictment, he is a consultant who worked with Nealy. It's unclear if he is in custody.

Price was arrested at an office building north of downtown Dallas around 8 a.m.; it's unclear what he was doing there.

Price, Nealy, Fain and Campbell are expected to make initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Stickney this afternoon at the federal courthouse in downtown Dallas.

Then, they are expected to be released pending trial, which may not occur for a year or more.

News 8, which has followed the FBI investigation for three years, will have details as soon as they are available.

Price is one of the most powerful politicians in North Texas. Since he was first elected in 1984 as Dallas County's first African American commissioner, Price has made a career out of vocal, forceful advocacy of minority issues. He also has close ties to some of Dallas business elite, giving him great power and influence.

Known by many of his constituents as "Our Man Downtown," Price resides over District 3, which encompasses West Dallas, downtown, and a wide swath of southeastern Dallas, Hutchins and Seagoville.

He's been under FBI scrutiny since at least the summer of 2011. That’s when dozens of agents searched his home and office for evidence of corruption. Agents also searched the homes of Fain and Nealy.

During that search, FBI agents seized more than $229,000 in cash along with a collection of expensive watches from a safe in Price’s Oak Cliff home across from Lake Cliff Park.

Agents seized an additional $230,000 from a Dallas County builder, who was set to pay that money to Price for the purchase of a then-vacant 9-acre tract of land at 7001 Grady Niblo Road in Dallas. That builder has since taken control of that property and has built an apartment complex on it.

In March 2012, federal prosecutors filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit to keep the cash from the safe and the land sale, alleging they were part of an illegal scheme. That forfeiture case was put on hold pending the criminal indictments.

[BigTex]

That Grady Niblo Road is nothing but trouble.

[BigTex]

Is your man downtown about to be your man up the river?

[BigTex]

Will JWP be disappointed when he looks out the window and the city's not burning?

[Red Oak]

Only took 30 years ?

[kent]

Has me thinkging....

Whatever happened to Dianne Ragsdale?

[Bob Of Burleson]

Did you read the list of charges? I'll bet the feds can make one or more stick.

[BigTex]

I think Diane Ragsdale is still around but keeps a very low profile.

[Red Oak]

If Ragsdale is a above grounds you can bet she is involved in a Race Based Shakedown one way or another.

[ann jusko]

You never can tell about a jury so I hope he choses not to have a jury. Fat chance though, I know.

[BigTex]

If they held elections for County Commissioner tomorrow, he would get 70% of the vote. If he is convicted, it might drop to 68%.

[BillB]

Has me thinkging....

Whatever happened to Dianne Ragsdale?

Ragsdale is still around.
You wouldn't recognize her. She's a fat old woman.
She runs some kind of South Dallas improvement group.

[Grassman]

Has me thinkging....

Whatever happened to Dianne Ragsdale?

Ragsdale is still around.
You wouldn't recognize her. She's a fat old woman.
She runs some kind of South Dallas improvement group.

Is that where the kick backs are now?

[knotlazy]

That Grady Niblo Road is nothing but trouble.

BT...what does that mean? I know the road....I didn't know JWP was associated....

[BigTex]

It's just a funny name for a road and figures prominently in traffic reports.

[Sangersteve]

It just sounds so deserving.

FEDERAL corruption charges

[RaisinCain]

If they held elections for County Commissioner tomorrow, he would get 70% of the vote. If he is convicted, it might drop to 68%.

Or, it might rise to 80%. Low info, ethnocentric voters.

[BillB]

Price has definitely graduated from his days of breaking ankles and tearing up windshield wipers.
Lipscomb would be proud of him if he was still around.

[Cowman52]

Can some one get the video of him slow walking at his arrainment?