Construction CEO accused of paying $1M in bribes to Atlanta official

Workers straddle the beams of the skylight of the City of Atlanta’s city Hall’s atrium where maintenance work was conducted. In the background is the older city hall building. JOHN SPINK /JSPINK@AJC.COM AJC File Photo

Credit: John Spink

Credit: John Spink

Workers straddle the beams of the skylight of the City of Atlanta’s city Hall’s atrium where maintenance work was conducted. In the background is the older city hall building. JOHN SPINK /JSPINK@AJC.COM AJC File Photo

The owner of an Atlanta construction company has been arraigned on federal bribery and money laundering charges related to a plan to pay more than $1 million to get contracts from the city.

Elvin R. Mitchell, Jr., the CEO of one of the city's more prominent minority-owned contractors, is accused of paying more than $1 million to an individual in exchange for contracts with the city of Atlanta. He is the owner of E.R. Mitchell Company, Cascade Building System, LLC., E.R. Mitchell Group, Inc. and EC & WT Construction Company, Inc., doing business as the E.R. Mitchell Construction Company.

A news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta said Mitchell is expected to plead guilty later this month. In a statement, Atlanta city attorney Cathy Hampton said the city had been “actively involved” in the investigation “for quite some time” and will continue to be.

“Any allegation that the City’s procurement process has been compromised in any way undermines the public’s trust in government,” she said. “Accordingly, we will not rest until this case is fully resolved and justice has been served.”

The Mitchell empire, founded by his father, the late E.R. Mitchell Sr., in 1960, has been involved in local and state government-related projects in metro Atlanta for decades. The Mitchell firms have been involved in projects at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the DeKalb County school system and the Georgia World Congress Center.

Mitchell’s companies were partners with construction giant Heery International in managing DeKalb County Schools construction projects under a 2007 education SPLOST. The pair were suspended by the school system and later fired, triggering a years-long legal battle, with the contractors alleging false termination and the country schools alleging billing fraud and mismanagement.

Mitchell later settled with the school system and worked to aid the schools in their case against Heery. The legal morass led to the termination of then-Superintendent Crawford Lewis. DeKalb schools and Heery ultimately settled the case after protracted litigation and monumental legal fees.

According to a statement from the Department of Justice, Mitchell believed some of that money would be paid to city officials who “exercised influence over the contracting process.” The scheme, which also involved another person in the construction industry, allegedly took place between 2010 and 2015.

“Mitchell brazenly sought to buy government contracts,” said U.S. Attorney John A. Horn. “Contractors who bribe their way into public work undermine the integrity of the system and ultimately cost taxpayers more money to get important projects done.”

Mitchell, 63, could not immediately be reached for comment. A phone call to a number listed to him was unanswered.

Mitchell is also accused of laundering money received from the city of Atlanta by trying to conceal its source.

The revelation of the criminal charges shook Atlanta’s political and business class. Mitchell’s father, who died in 2012, founded the company after a successful career as one of the first construction superintendents with Flagler Construction Co., according to an obituary from 2012. The elder Mitchel also helped found Capitol City Bank & Trust, one of Georgia’s largest minority-owned banks. The bank later would fail, swamped by real estate loans that soured following the Great Recession.

To read more about the case, click here.