By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The FBI released video that shows former Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon soliciting and accepting bribes from agents masquerading as real estate developers.
The videos were key evidence in his arrest, conviction and 44-month prison sentence for accepting more than $50,000 from an undercover agent and a Charlotte businessman, the Charlotte Observer reports.
“I felt sick when it happened,” said former Mayor Richard Vinroot. “I felt sick again when I saw something I have never seen, and never imagined would ever happen in this good city,” he said. “It’s funny, you read about it – and the documents read so graphically. But now you see it, and it’s almost like a movie – somebody you know, doing something so terrible, so despicable while holding the highest office in the city.”
The FBI released eight videotapes and three audio recordings, which is uncharacteristic.
“The feds don’t release evidence,” said Charlotte defense attorney Claire Rauscher. “Once it was out in the public domain, I don’t think they had much of a choice.”
