The case so far
Voters twice elected Burrell Ellis as DeKalb County’s chief executive, in 2008 and 2012, before an indictment accused him of shaking down county contractors for campaign contributions.
Ellis is charged with 14 crimes, including bribery, theft, extortion and perjury. If he’s found guilty on the bribery charge, he could face a 20-year maximum sentence. He has pleaded not guilty. His trial could last several weeks.
“I’ve done nothing wrong, and I would never ever ever do anything to violate the public trust,” Ellis said in a YouTube video in June 2013.
The indictment alleges that Ellis retaliated against at least four companies doing business with DeKalb that didn’t donate to his campaign: technology consultancy CIBER, equipment sales and service firm Power and Energy Services, real estate firm National Property Institute and consulting firm The Cornelius Group.
- CIBER lost out on a share of a $4 million consulting contract in 2012, according to county records.
- Power and Energy Services stopped receiving work under a contract worth up to $250,000, said the company's lawyer in a Feb. 14, 2013, letter to the county.
- The indictment claims Ellis told National Property Institute he didn't believe DeKalb County should be doing work with the company. The company had won a $1 million contract to rehab foreclosed homes in 2012.
- The Cornelius Group had its $40,000 contract with DeKalb County canceled in early 2012, allegedly because the company's owner, Brenda Cornelius, criticized Ellis, according to the indictment. The company had been working on a marketing plan for the county's compressed natural gas project.
The bribery charge against Ellis is based on the allegation that he solicited $25,000 from a waste management company, Merrell Brothers, and that he could help with the company’s ongoing negotiations for a $4 million county contract.
How we got the story
Since DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis was indicted June 18, 2013, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has followed the money and investigated the workings of the county’s government. Through phone calls to more than 125 vendors, the AJC interviewed businesspeople who felt pressured by Ellis to contribute to his campaign. We also obtained campaign finance records, county contracts and internal emails to show how Ellis’ administration did business.
Although neither DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James nor defense attorneys were willing to discuss the case, citing a judge’s gag order, the AJC’s review of thousands of pages of court records shed light on how prosecutors have built their case. Those records included information about secret recordings, surprise searches and long-running investigations into government contracting.
The crime, the time
Prison sentences doled out to Georgia elected officials accused of corruption schemes:
Bill Campbell: Democratic Atlanta mayor convicted in 2006 of tax evasion. While he was acquitted on bribery charges, the federal judge who sentenced him found that Campbell had taken money from contractors who wanted to do business with the city. Sentence: 30 months
Sidney Dorsey: Democratic DeKalb County sheriff was convicted in 2002 of masterminding the assassination of his successor, Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown, and of racketeering, theft and violating his oath of office. Sentence: Life.
Michael Hightower: Democratic Fulton County commissioner pleaded guilty in 2000 to taking a $25,000 bribe from a county contractor. Sentence: 6 months
Kevin Kenerly: Republican Gwinnett County commissioner accused of accepting $1 million in bribes. Pleaded no contest in August, with a plea deal that gave him 10 years probation and a $10,000 fine. Sentence: None
Shirley Lasseter: Republican Gwinnett County commissioner who in 2012 admitted taking a $36,500 bribe from an uncover FBI agent seeking her vote on a real estate development. Sentence: 33 months
Mitch Skandalakis: Republican Fulton County Commission chairman pleaded guilty in 2003 to making false statements to an FBI agent investigating a bribery scheme. He acknowledged taking bribes from a county contractor. Sentence: 6 months
Linda Schrenko: Republican State schools superintendent who stole $600,000 in federal funds for educational services for deaf children and from governor's honors program, using the money to run for governor and for plastic surgery. She pleaded guilty in 2006 to fraud and money laundering. Sentence: 8 years
Charles Walker: Democratic state Senate Majority Leader from Augusta convicted in 2005 of defrauding businesses, a charity and taxpayers in part to pay off gambling debts. A jury found him guilty on 127 of 137 counts including mail fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy. Sentence: 10 years
Robin Williams: Republican state representative from Augusta convicted in 2005 of bilking more than $2 million from a mental health center. Sentence: 10 years
Complete coverage on MyAJC.com
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will bring our readers the most comprehensive coverage of the Burrell Ellis trial on our premium website. http://www.myajc.com/ellistrial/
On the site:
- Read the latest AJC stories and analysis about this case
- Browse an interactive that identifies the key players in the trial
- Watch reporter Mark Niesse's video about the case and what's at stake for residents
- Read court documents and review a timeline of the corruption probe
When Burrell Ellis, the suspended leader of DeKalb County, repeatedly called to ask a small business for campaign contributions, the company refused to give.
That didn’t sit well with Ellis, who as CEO ran DeKalb’s government.
“Oh, so you are not interested in doing work in DeKalb County?” Ellis allegedly told a Power and Energy Services employee in 2012.
Soon after, Power and Energy Services stopped getting work under a contract worth up to $250,000 for servicing county generators, according to its attorney. The CEO of a competing company contributed $1,500 to Ellis on Oct. 2, 2012. That company received work, the attorney said.
Prosecutors contend that was Ellis’ modus operandi. Vendor after vendor was pressured to contribute to Ellis’ campaign. If companies didn’t donate, an indictment alleges that Ellis threatened to cut them off.
In a trial that begins Monday, Ellis will fight criminal charges accusing him of shaking down companies for campaign cash, creating a pay-for-play culture in a county weighed down by corruption and scandal. He faces bribery, theft, extortion and perjury charges, with the most serious offense carrying a 20-year maximum prison term.
Ellis goes to court a week after former Commissioner Elaine Boyer pleaded guilty to defrauding taxpayers in unrelated schemes worth $93,000. The rest of the DeKalb Commission’s spending is under federal investigation.
A guilty verdict would topple Ellis from his perch as one of Georgia’s most powerful elected officials. As DeKalb’s chief executive, Ellis wielded more authority than many big city mayors, overseeing day-to-day operations of a government serving nearly twice as many people as the city of Atlanta.
Ellis’ attorneys have said he didn’t cross the line between aggressive fundraising and illegal behavior.
“I have never stolen nor profited from my public service,” Ellis said in a YouTube video in January, which has since been removed. “I believe that what is right will always reveal itself in the end.”
Just politics?
After Ellis was elected as the county’s CEO in 2008, he brought an image of buttoned-down professionalism to a post previously held by Vernon Jones, a charming but divisive leader. For supporters, the soft-spoken Ellis represented a new kind of politics.
He pledged to bring efficiency to DeKalb, a county larger than Detroit, Tampa, Fla., or Nashville, Tenn., with more than 700,000 residents and a $1.2 billion annual budget.
While he was seeking re-election in 2012, Ellis ordered his staff to create lists of vendors who had recently signed contracts with the county, according to charges brought June 18, 2013.
He’d then use that list to solicit contributions from an architecture firm’s conference room, where he made campaign-related calls.
Ellis has said he’s done nothing wrong as he raised about $1.5 million for his successful re-election to a second term nearly two years ago. He has denied ever promising contracts to donors or penalizing companies that didn’t give.
It’s legal and common for politicians to ask contractors for campaign donations, but it’s illegal for elected officials to promise anything in return. They also can’t retaliate against or threaten companies when seeking money.
But that’s what prosecutors accuse Ellis of doing. The indictment named four companies he allegedly threatened, as well as one more company he’s accused of seeking a bribe from in exchange for favorable treatment during negotiations with the county.
“The investigation has revealed that in some instances, if the vendors refuse or are not receptive, CEO Ellis orders the contracts to be terminated or CEO Ellis directs the DeKalb County Purchasing and Contacting Department … to simply not utilize the vendors that do not contribute to the CEO’s campaign, “said the January 2013 search warrant affidavit by William “Clay” Nix, an investigator for DeKalb District Attorney Robert James.
Ugly business
A sales representative for one of the companies Ellis contacted said he felt uncomfortable with the request for money, but he didn’t feel pressured.
“I don’t think it’s ethical” to ask contractors for campaign contributions, said Deric Cox of Action Tire Co. in Clayton County, which holds a tire retreading contract with DeKalb County. “My gosh, there’s too much temptation there if he’s the CEO and he oversees the bid process and if he has any influence over the bid process.”
Cox didn’t donate, and his company didn’t lose business with DeKalb County.
But other companies are expected to testify that strings were attached to Ellis’ solicitations.
In one case, Ellis allegedly asked a waste management company, Merrell Brothers, for $25,000 and said he could help complete negotiations for a $4 million contract, according to a special grand jury’s report that led to the indictment. That allegation is the basis of the bribery charge.
The company’s chief financial officer, Terry Merrell, told DeKalb County contracting employees during a conference call that wasn’t the way he does business, and the company later canceled its contract.
Secret recordings
Prosecutors won’t have to rely solely on the words of contractors. They also have Ellis, who was secretly recorded discussing contractors.
The case against Ellis was built from a years-long investigation of alleged fraud and bid-rigging surrounding lucrative contracts to upgrade 5,000 miles of old sewer lines at a cost of some $1.7 billion.
The investigation narrowed in on Ellis when one of his deputies, suspended DeKalb Purchasing Director Kelvin Walton, agreed to wear a wire and record his conversations. Some of those discussions, among 1,452 audio files and 204 other recordings produced by investigators, will likely be heard in public for the first time during the trial.
Jurors may hear Ellis’ voice talking about how “we ain’t doing anymore business with her” after a businesswoman refused to contribute to his campaign, as well as instructions for Walton to stop using Power and Energy Services for county jobs, according to the search warrant affidavit.
Parts of the recordings could also help Ellis’ case.
“CEO Ellis states that he does not want it to be said that he (Ellis) will not do business with people who do not make contributions, but vendors need to return his phone calls,” the affidavit said Ellis told one of the co-owners of Power and Energy.
High stakes
The case could have far-reaching repercussions not just for Ellis, but for a county that has been struggling to improve its reputation as a good place to do business.
More than 69 percent of businesses that responded to a recent survey listed “government leadership” as the county’s most significant challenge to creating jobs and economic growth, according to an April 1 report prepared for the county by Angelou Economics.
“The county at one point was the darling of economic development in Georgia,” said Angelos Angelou, the Texas-based consultant who prepared the report. “Perception is reality. … It’s a problem until they change that perception.”
DeKalb was once recognized as a model for community accomplishments when it received the All-America City Award from the National Civic League in 1998.
The region’s luster has faded, giving way to a steady stream of corruption allegations against Ellis, county commissioners and rank-and-file government employees.
The FBI in June subpoenaed thousands of pages of purchasing card records following The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s reporting about how commissioners had used taxpayer money for ski trips, meals, a speeding ticket and computer equipment. And the DeKalb Board of Ethics, which has the power to remove officials from office, is investigating at least 10 complaints against county commissioners and other government employees.
“People are concerned,” said Liane Levetan, who was DeKalb’s CEO from 1993 to 2000. “They are concerned about corruption, and it takes longer to build something up once it’s been torn down.”
If a jury finds Ellis not guilty, he would immediately return to his elected position in charge of DeKalb’s government. Interim CEO Lee May has held that job for more than a year since Ellis was indicted.
Reform needed?
Businesses and good government groups say Ellis’ case exposes a need for change.
Such easy access to money in the form of campaign contributions has led to the downfall of many other politicians, from Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
William Perry, executive director of Common Cause of Georgia, said his organization has pushed for DeKalb County, Fulton County and the City of Atlanta to create ordinances restricting the influence of money on politics. He proposes placing a $250 limit on campaign contributions from businesses holding contracts or attempting to do business with a local government.
“It’s a huge problem, and I think it’s basically why it makes the Ellis case kind of shocking,” Perry said. “I think he got to the point where he was greedy and he wanted to build the biggest war chest that he could.”
Contractors can help protect themselves by avoiding candidates’ fundraisers and becoming politically engaged in other ways, said Bill Anderson, president of Associated Builders and Contractors of Georgia.
“In fact, we recommend contractors who perform government contracts participate in the political process without directly supporting the candidate by making contributions to political action committees or legislative caucuses that promote candidates based on where they stand on issues relevant to the respective industry,” Anderson said.
Former Gov. Roy Barnes said the influence of money on politics is a fact of life for any elected official, and they need to be careful to play by the rules.
When donors want something in return, candidates should pledge a fair process but nothing more, he said.
“Democracy is not all sunshine and moonbeams,” said Barnes, a personal injury attorney. “I’ve never met a politician that liked to raise money. … Where the line is generally drawn is where there’s an absolute quid pro quo – you give me this and I will give you a contract. That’s going too far, you should always stay away from that conversation.”
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