Mary Waters, Sam Riddle, Federal Probe

Monday, May 18, 2009
Former state rep Waters in federal probe

Waters, campaign manager investigated in connection with Southfield council member

Paul Egan / The Detroit News

Southfield -- Former state Rep. Mary Waters and her campaign manager, Sam Riddle, are linked to a federal investigation involving Southfield City Council member William Lattimore.
Waters resigned as Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy's director of legislative affairs on April 25, citing personal reasons, Worthy spokeswoman Maria Miller confirmed.
Riddle, who also worked for Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, has been under investigation in connection with a long-running investigation of Detroit City Hall contracting, including a multimillion-dollar sewage sludge contract awarded to Synagro Technologies Inc. of Texas. Riddle's cell phone was tapped continuously by federal authorities from June 2007 to January 2008, according to letters sent by the Justice Department.
The federal investigation related to Lattimore and Riddle also involves Zeidman's, a jewelry store and pawn shop with outlets on 10 Mile in Southfield and on Gratiot in Detroit, people familiar with the investigation confirmed.
Waters received two campaign donations from "Tommy Zeidman," who listed his occupation as owner of Zeidman's, when she challenged U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Detroit, in the Democratic primary in 2008. One donation, dated July 24, 2008, was for $850. A second donation, dated one week later, was for $950.
Other than those two campaign donations, there is no public record of a Tommy Zeidman in Michigan. The registered agent of Zeidman's Jewelry and Loan is Thomas S. Labret of Orchard Lake, public records show. Labret has not returned phone messages left at the pawn shop and his home.
Waters could not be reached.
Riddle has confirmed he knows Lattimore but has declined to discuss the investigation.
"I know I am not the target," said Lattimore, who would not give details about the investigation.
Zeidman's in Southfield relocated in 2008, moving from a strip mall at 10 Mile and Southfield Road to 10 Mile and Evergreen. A site plan for the new location was approved by the City Council.
It was not clear from the Southfield Clerk's Office whether Zeidman's transferred its pawn shop license from one location to the other or allowed the old license to lapse at the end of 2008 and got a new license for the new location starting in 2009.
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I'm failing to see what the foul play is here [[other than Synagro)? Is it something to do with campaign donations being too high, the location of the business, the residency of the donor, or the ownership of the business? :confused:

No one has said what the investigation is about at this point. Previous articles have stated that the investigation is not related to Synagro. They mention the campaign contributions in an attempt to establish a connection between "Tommy Zeidman" and Mary Waters.

The articles may not say what's going on. But, one thing we do know is, her ass has quit.




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May 18, 2009


Waters resigns after being linked to federal probe

By Rochelle Riley, Gina Damron and Ben Schmitt
Free Press Staff Writers Former state Rep. Mary Waters said today she resigned from her job with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office after being linked to a federal criminal investigation, but said she has “done nothing wrong.�

Southfield City Councilman William Lattimore told the Free Press earlier this month and confirmed again today that he was a witness in an ongoing probe that involves Waters and political consultant Sam Riddle.

Waters, who resigned April 25, said stepping down was “the best thing to do.�

“I've never been in a situation where I’ve stolen money. I don’t have any hidden money. I don’t have a job. I have a house and car to pay for," Waters said.

"I am a relentless champion for the people. I was that way the six years I was in Lansing, and I remain that way. That’s who I am. I don’t intend for this to derail my political career. That's going to depend on how the public perceives things. But I intend to work my way through this unfortunate ordeal."

Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office, confirmed today that Waters “resigned of her own accord� last month for personal reasons as the office’s director of legislative affairs. Miller declined to discuss specifics.

Waters started working for Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy on Dec. 1, 2007, Miller said.

Her resignation is another blow to Worthy’s office.

In March, former Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Karen Plants was charged along with two Inkster cops and a judge with conspiracy to commit perjury. The charges stem from a drug case in which the judge, prosecutor and cops kept jurors and defense lawyers from learning that a key prosecution witness was a paid police informant.

Last month, Christine Kowal, an assistant prosecutor for Worthy’s office, was jailed for several hours after Wayne Circuit Judge Michael Hathaway found her in contempt of court at a sentencing hearing.

Southfield City Council President Don Fracassi said today that attorneys with the city’s legal department told him during a meeting more than a week ago that they had been notified of a probe by federal investigators, who said “that there was an investigation going on and that they would get back to us if necessary.�

Fracassi said Lattimore’s name was not mentioned in the meeting.

John Beras, Southfield’s city attorney, who came back to work earlier this month after being on leave for several months, said Friday he hasn’t been contacted, but wouldn’t confirm whether any other attorneys with the city had been.

Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence said that Lattimore told her two weeks ago that he was being investigated and had been interviewed by the FBI. But, she said, he did not discuss details of the probe with her.

“He said he was being investigated as the result of a wiretap with Sam Riddle and they called him in,� Lawrence said. “He said he didn’t want me to be blindsided.�

Lattimore, who was elected to the Southfield City Council in 2005, has declined to comment on the investigation.

But he has said the investigation of him is not connected to a federal probe of a Detroit sludge-hauling contract, which Riddle has been linked to. An executive with Synagro Technologies pleaded guilty in January to charges that he bribed Detroit city officials to obtain the annual sludge disposal contract for Synagro

Lattimore said he knows Riddle through an acquaintance.

He also said he and Waters are “not friends. We’re acquaintances on a professional level at best. There’s no real relationship there, per se.�

Waters, too, said today that the feds’ interest in her is not connected with an ongoing probe of Detroit corruption.

“I wasn’t involved in Detroit, and I do not know who all is involved in the Southfield stuff. I believe that it’s separate,� she said.
“I’ve done nothing wrong and I intend to fully explain myself to the public when the time is appropriate,� Waters said. “I owe them that.�
“I’ve had people throughout southeast Michigan who have been very, very supportive and have believed in me over the years, and I don’t intend to let them down. My mom has always said ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,' so that’s what I’m going to have to hold onto.’�

Don't you love hearing the same cliches over and over again when a politician is on the ropes?

I think it is definitely time for Worthy to start looking in her own office for malfeasance. Two instances of questionable employees within a short time frame; is she turning a blind eye to this? I am sick and tired of the taint from Detroit politicians.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kraig

Monday, May 18, 2009
Former state rep Waters in federal probe

Waters, campaign manager investigated in connection with Southfield council member

Paul Egan / The Detroit News

Southfield -- Former state Rep. Mary Waters and her campaign manager, Sam Riddle, are linked to a federal investigation involving Southfield City Council member William Lattimore.
Waters resigned as Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy's director of legislative affairs on April 25, citing personal reasons, Worthy spokeswoman Maria Miller confirmed.
Riddle, who also worked for Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, has been under investigation in connection with a long-running investigation of Detroit City Hall contracting, including a multimillion-dollar sewage sludge contract awarded to Synagro Technologies Inc. of Texas. Riddle's cell phone was tapped continuously by federal authorities from June 2007 to January 2008, according to letters sent by the Justice Department.
The federal investigation related to Lattimore and Riddle also involves Zeidman's, a jewelry store and pawn shop with outlets on 10 Mile in Southfield and on Gratiot in Detroit, people familiar with the investigation confirmed.
Waters received two campaign donations from "Tommy Zeidman," who listed his occupation as owner of Zeidman's, when she challenged U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Detroit, in the Democratic primary in 2008. One donation, dated July 24, 2008, was for $850. A second donation, dated one week later, was for $950.
Other than those two campaign donations, there is no public record of a Tommy Zeidman in Michigan. The registered agent of Zeidman's Jewelry and Loan is Thomas S. Labret of Orchard Lake, public records show. Labret has not returned phone messages left at the pawn shop and his home.
Waters could not be reached.
Riddle has confirmed he knows Lattimore but has declined to discuss the investigation.
"I know I am not the target," said Lattimore, who would not give details about the investigation.
Zeidman's in Southfield relocated in 2008, moving from a strip mall at 10 Mile and Southfield Road to 10 Mile and Evergreen. A site plan for the new location was approved by the City Council.
It was not clear from the Southfield Clerk's Office whether Zeidman's transferred its pawn shop license from one location to the other or allowed the old license to lapse at the end of 2008 and got a new license for the new location starting in 2009.
pegan@detnews.com [[313) 222-2069

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To me, it always seemed like a funny location for a pawn shop, right in the Southfield office district. It doesn't say "pawn shop" on the sign, nor is there that 3 ball thing that pawn shops have. It says loan office on the sign, I was suprised it was allowed to relocate at that spot.

I am confused. What did they supposedly do? How is the pawn shop involved?