Atlanta businessman Lohrasb “Jeff” Jafari was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday, after admitting he bribed government officials to get contracts for his company.
Jafari, 72, of Alpharetta, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones to 60 months behind bars, followed by three years of supervised release. Jafari must also pay $909,670 in restitution and a $300 special assessment. At the request of federal prosecutors, Jafari must also pay back the federal income taxes he owed in 2014.
Jafari on April 19 pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiratorial bribery, substantive bribery, and tax evasion. On Wednesday, Jafari asked Judge Jones for a sentencing of 51 months.
“I have pled guilty to what I have done. I’m sorry for that,” Jafari said in court.
At the end of his remarks, he said “give me a second chance. I’m a good person.”
Jafari reinforced his leniency plea with 14 letters of support, and several people sat in his corner during the hearing. Speaking in court, longtime friend Anthony Brunson described Jafari as a generous, kind man who “emptied his pockets” to pay funeral costs for Brunson’s son.
Jones thanked Jafari’s supporters for their time and told them it played a role in his decision.
Defense attorney Steve Sadow said Jafari should get leniency because he plead guilty, and he compared that with the not guilty plea of Jo Ann Macrina, the city’s former Watershed commissioner who was found guilty and sentenced to four years in prison in February for her role in the bribery scheme. Jafari initially pleaded not guilty in 2019.
Sadow also called attention to Jafari’s prostate cancer, heart problems, and the death of his wife last year.
“She died in my arms,” Jafari said in a shaking voice.
Justice Department trial attorney Jolee Porter acknowledged the hearing as “a sad day” given Jafari’s success after immigrating to the USA. But Porter said Jafari “chose to commit serious crimes” that caused “great harms” on the community.
Jafari is the former executive vice president of PRAD Group, which was an architectural, design, and construction management firm based in Atlanta. PRAD performed services for Atlanta and DeKalb County from 1984 to 2018.
Jafari oversaw the company’s finances, but he also provided major campaign contributions to various city politicians. Prosecutors alleged Jafari gave cash and other items to Macrina and Adam Smith, the city’s former chief procurement officer who also did time in prison.
Porter said Jafari admitted he also paid bribes to a former DeKalb County official in an effort to get county contracts. Porter said Jafari didn’t know that official was “a confidential source” of the FBI. The feds also said Jafari tried to evade paying more than $1.5 million in taxes and attempted to get Smith to lie about the bribes.
“He used those talents for corrupt ends,” Porter said. Requesting a sentence of 63 months, Porter said: “Jafari has already gotten a substantial break in this case.”
In 2019, Jafari initially received a 51-count indictment from prosecutors for allegedly committing bribery, tax evasion, and money laundering, among other charges. A federal grand jury in February returned a third superseding indictment for a total 53-count indictment.
From at least 2014 to January 2017, Jafari paid Smith more than $40,000 in cash to ensure Smith provided city work to PRAD, prosecutors alleged. Likewise, prosecutors alleged Jafari and/or PRAD paid Macrina $30,000 in four separate payments between June and September 2016.
In exchange for those payments, Smith and Macrina worked with Jafari to ensure PRAD received millions of dollars in city contracts, prosecutors alleged. Their scheme allegedly included conspiring to replace two evaluators on the selection team for the city’s architectural and engineering contract, and to rescore an evaluation so PRAD would get a contract.
Jones apologized to Jafari after his sentencing. He acknowledged that Jafari did many good things in life, but Jones also said Jafari’s actions weakened public trust in local government.
Jones said the court will now take into consideration Jafari’s request to be transferred to the Montgomery federal prison camp in Alabama. Wherever Jafari is sent in the end, Jones said they would also work to send him to a facility with a Residential Drug Abuse Program, given that Jafari also abused marijuana and Xanax in light of the hardships he’s endured.
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