Former Dallas City Council member Don Hill, who once served as mayor pro tem and was sentenced to prison on bribery charges, died Saturday. He was 65.
He had just been granted “compassionate” release from prison after being diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer.
Hill was elected to the Dallas City Council four times, beginning in 1999. But as he was gaining traction as a potential mayoral candidate, the FBI raided Hill’s office, home, law office and his vehicle in 2005. He was later convicted of bribery and extortion and sentenced to 18 years in what was considered the largest corruption case in Dallas history.
Barbara Mallory Caraway served on the Dallas City Council with Hill from 1999 to 2001.
“He was committed, I’m not aware of any type of misdeeds or misconduct,” she told KERA. “I remember him being very amenable to the community, he was a person who could work through any situation and so I'm not conflicted about my knowledge and relationship with Don Hill.”
Hill was released from a federal prison in North Carolina Friday and was expected to return to Texas.
Learn more from The Dallas Morning News, KXAS-TV and WFAA-TV.