A Dallas-area developer pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to commit bribery in a case that involved two former Dallas City Council members.
Sherman Roberts, 70, was indicted in December 2020 for bribing former Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway and the late former Council Member Carolyn Davis to support loans and low-income housing tax credits for his apartment projects.
Roberts was previously head of City Wide Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to "revitalizing neighborhoods".
KERA reached out to Roberts' attorney and will update this story with any comment.
In 2019, Caraway pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and tax evasion while Davis pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery. Caraway was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison. Davis died in a car crash alongside her daughter Melissa Davis-Nunn before she was sentenced.
In return for thousands of dollars in cash along with future payments, Davis lobbied for Roberts’ real estate projects, including Serenity Place, Runyon Springs, and Patriot’s Crossing. She promoted Serenity Place to the City Housing Committee, demanded other developers withdraw their applications for real estate funding, recommended Serenity Place receive a nine percent low income housing tax credit, and voted to approve a $1.9 million City of Dallas loan, according to court documents.
Both Davis and Roberts met with Caraway to address problems with Patriot's Crossing. In return for $700 in cash and a $2,000 monthly stipend, Caraway stopped the city from issuing a request for proposal for the Patriot's Crossing project and to deliver the project for Roberts, according to court records.
Roberts faces five years in federal prison. His sentencing is scheduled for March 12, 2025.
He joins two other real estate developers, Devin Hall and Ruel Hamilton, who were charged in connection with the bribery scandal.
Hall, the developer of the Grand Park Place apartment project, pleaded guilty in August 2020. Hamilton, an AmeriSouth Realty Group executive who backed the Royal Crest housing project, is waiting for a retrial on conspiracy and bribery charges, U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton said in a news release.
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