Indictment: Charleston orchestrated bribes

By Joe Southern
The unsealed federal indictment against Waller County Justice of the Peace DeWayne Charleston points to him as the organizer in a growing bribery scandal that has resulted in four convictions so far.
Charleston, 46, was arrested July 7 at his Hempstead home without incident and is out on a $100,000 bond. The indictment accuses Charleston of “conspiring to solicit, demand and accept bribe money or kickbacks” from a Waller demolition contractor in exchange for obtaining approved vendor status resulting in the awarding of City of Hempstead contracts.
The indictment accuses Charleston of conspiring with former Hempstead Mayor Pro-Tem Larry Wilson, and former City Alderman Paris Kincade to extort bribes from Sidney Johnson of Sid’s Recycling and Demolition – who is identified in the indictment as a “cooperating witness” or “CW” – in exchange for city contracts.
The charges are the result of an investigation conducted by special agents of the Houston FBI Office. Assistant United States Attorney Michael Wright is prosecuting the case. Wilson and Kincade pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges this year and are scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 13. Former Brookshire mayor Keith Allen Woods and former public works director Henry Cheney both pleaded guilty last year to corruption charges. They are serving 37-month and two-year sentences respectively.
When contacted Monday for comment about the indictment, Charleston declined, referring instead to his attorney, Paul Nugent of Houston. A call to Nugent has not yet been returned.
The indictment against Charleston reads a lot like the indictments against Wilson and Kincade. Many of the points in the indictment come from secret recordings allegedly made between July 18, 2005, and July 26, 2008.
On July 18, 2005, Charleston is alleged to have arranged a meeting with Johnson and Woods, the Brookshire mayor, to discuss demolition contracts in Waller County. At that time Charleston reportedly told Johnson that he wanted his “pockets coated” just like he was “coating the pockets” of the mayor.
On April 28, 2006, Johnson met with Charleston after a civil court proceeding at which Charleston is recorded telling Johnson, “You know I took care of your a—, don’t you?” Three days later, Johnson went to Charleston’s home and asked, “How much is this trial gonna cost me?” Charleston then allegedly took a $1,000 bribe.
On Nov. 5, 2006, Johnson and Charleston are recorded discussing the possible election of a black district attorney. “I think that Negro get in, I think he will take a (racial epithet) down a whole lot quicker, we can’t scream racism against him, so the thing is, you … (have to) just put up, make an investment,” Charleston allegedly said.
On Nov. 22, Charleston is recorded talking to Johnson on the phone and telling him, “I can’t get no movement … I think we need to try go on and get with the City of Hempstead.”
Earlier in the year Hempstead received a $350,000 federal Community Development Block Grant to rehabilitate or demolish buildings in the city. On that same November day, Charleston introduced Johnson to Mayor Michael Wolfe. After the meeting, Charleston told Johnson he would have the necessary votes to become a preferred vendor with the city.
“Larry (Wilson) … with you, you ain’t got to worry about Larry … you got Paris Kincade … Paris is gonna be with you.” Charleston later tells Johnson, “I’m gonna tell Larry that … you’ll be willing to make a nice contribution … if he run for Commissioner.”
Later in the conversation, Johnson suggests to Charleston that he (Johnson) offer Wolfe “five, six, seven thousand in your pocket, do what you want with it.”
Charleston replied, “That’ll … scare him (Wolfe) off doc, Larry Wilson the one you want to go to with that.”
On Dec. 28, 2006, Johnson met with Charleston, Wolfe and Wilson in Wolfe’s office to discuss potential demolition contracts. After the meeting, Wilson discussed with Johnson how to inflate contracts in order to make more money from the city.
On Jan. 10, 2007, Johnson and Wilson agreed to a $10,000 bribe in exchange for up to $160,000 in city contracts. On Jan. 18, Johnson tried to give a pre-arranged $5,000 bribe payment to Wilson, who instructed him to give it to Charleston.
“Tell you what, you get that to the judge. You give that to the judge. Tell Judge to come see me.” A few days later, Wilson arranged to have an unnamed accomplice accept the money. On Jan. 30, Charleston is alleged to have made a surprise visit to Johnson’s office and tell Johnson he was aware of the bribe payment and his attempts to get the Hempstead contracts.
On Feb. 5, 2007, Kincade is recorded telling Johnson he would like the same type of relationship with him that Wilson has. He later accepts $3,000 from Johnson. In a city council meeting on Feb. 8, Wilson makes a motion to accept Johnson’s business as a vendor and Kincade seconds the motion. The next day, Johnson deposited $5,000 in the trunk of Wilson’s car while Wilson tells him “You got … the contract (it’s) yours.”
The next day Johnson went to Charleston’s home where he allegedly gave Charleston a $1,500 bribe payment. During that visit, Johnson expressed some of his fears to Charleston, including his concern of Wilson being a law enforcement officer at Prairie View A&M University. Charleston told him “he’s just a security guard.”
Charleston is also recorded allaying Johnson’s fears about getting caught bribing officials.
“Let me just tell you the law. You can give a Negro a bribe … the public official who receives it is the one who goes down … not the one who gives it,” Charleston is quoted as saying.
He goes on to say, “You (Johnson) the only one that can bust him (Wilson) … he probably was trying to find out was that (racial epithet referring to Johnson) setting me up … I know my boy Wilson.”
Should the bribes be discovered, Charleston advised Johnson to call them campaign contributions.
“Remember this, you gave that to him as a campaign contribution. Now, it’s his fault if he didn’t record it and file it as such … and I can vouch for you. Do you follow me?”
Charleston told Johnson the bribes, “they call that the cost of doin’ business, when business man pays somebody some money. It’s the public official who … can’t do it, and that’s all you got to worry about.”
Another comment attributed to Charleston from the same conversation includes, “… we can own Waller County if we pay these Negroes right, the mayors …”
The conversation ends with Johnson allegedly giving Charleston a $1,500 bribe payment which Charleston counts out. On Feb. 27, Charleston informed Johnson that the city contract Johnson pursued with an “unindicted co-conspirator” in Prairie View fell through because the unindicted co-conspirator pushed too hard with the local officials, as well as for Johnson to pay the bribe money to him up front.
“On or about Feb. 27, 2007, in a recorded conversation, Charleston and the cooperating witness (Johnson) discussed how the unindicted co-conspirator in Prairie View failed to obtain a contract after receiving a bribe payment, in which Charleston stated, ‘… you give a (racial epithet) their money up front, and they don’t do no real plannin’ … somebody like me, I could just play politics … I’m not no elected official … for (the) city or Prairie View (A&M), but hey listen, one thing them (racial epithet) is always gonna need, and you know what that is … they gonna always need the judge,’” the indictment says.
In August of 2007, Johnson received three payments from Hempstead for the demolition of buildings. The $19,650 paid by the city came from Community Development Block Grant funds, which are federal dollars, thus making this a federal offense rather than a local one. The investigation wound down on Jan. 24, 2008, when Johnson asked Charleston about the status of a speeding ticket he received on Feb. 16, 2006.
“Charleston stated the ticket was on his desk, had not been adjudicated, the cooperating witness (Johnson) had nothing to worry about, and nothing would be on the cooperating witness’ record,” the indictment says.
In a recorded telephone conversation, Johnson asked Charleston about the status of the $1,000 bribe to resolve the ticket. “When you start talkin’ about stuff, you limit that stuff to when we in person, though,” Charleston said.
Later that day, FBI agents ask Charleston about fixing a speeding ticket for Johnson in return for $1,000. “What … no he never gave me $1,000 … I never got anything from him. Not to fix no ticket,” Charleston said.
On Jan 30, Kincade went to Johnson to ask if he would be turning him in to law enforcement. Wilson and Kincade are not charged in Charleston’s case. They are scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 13. If convicted of conspiring to commit Federal Programs Fraud, Charleston could face a penalty of imprisonment of not more than five years and/or a fine not to exceed $250,000. A conviction for violating any of the remaining substantive counts of Federal Programs Fraud carries a penalty of imprisonment of not more than 10 years and/or a fine not to exceed $250,000.
Three days after he was indicted, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct suspended Charleston with pay from the office of justice of the peace, Precinct 3. County Judge Owen Ralston said the suspension will remain in effect until further orders of the commission. Justices of the peace Ted Krenek, Charles Karisch and Delores Hargrave each volunteered to pick up part of Charleston’s load.
Ralston said Charleston has up to 30 days to request a hearing. The commission has 30 days after that to conduct a hearing. It then has up to 60 days to render its decision.