WSB's Veronica Waters reports defense attorney Billy Martin made the comment as he began to cross-examine FBI Special Agent Mike Grant, who had spent most of the day summarizing records the jury had already seen. Grant did so in order to show that Fred Prewitt, a friend and fundraiser of Campbell's, raked in over $819,000 [pdf] in consultant fees, kickbacks and alleged bribes from 1995-99 from city contractors or companies hoping to get business with Atlanta.

Grant's summary listed payments from five companies -- Harbert Construction, Eco-Tech, EWL, Atlanta Water Corp., [all pdf files] and Eastman & Apolinsky--some of which paid Prewitt's company FBP Contractors as a subcontractor on projects. Prewitt later admitted that he had posed as a front for white-owned businesses seeking to partner with minority-owned companies so they could bid on Atlanta city contracts.

Martin zeroed in on the fact that though the FBI called the money "bribes," Prewitt has not been charged with that crime. Prewitt pled guilty to filing false tax returns in 2001.

"How much was bribe money?" Martin asked.

"He used the money to pay his American Express cards...which those charges went to benefit Mayor Campbell," Grant answered. But under repeated questioning, Grant acknowledged that once the payments had been converted into cash, the investigation could not definitively say where the money had gone.

Using Delta frequent flier records, phone records of travel agent Gabe Pascarella, credit card bills and the Mayor's calendars, Grant also compiled a list of travel Campbell and Prewitt had taken together, sometimes with other associates of the Mayor. The destinations included Memphis, New Orleans, Mississippi, and New York. Grant testified there were 11 trips where Prewitt had paid the airfare and/or hotel expenses for Campbell.

Martin also had Grant go back over a telephone call the FBI had taped [pdf] between Prewitt and contractor Bert Timmerman December 20, 1999. Timmerman testified Prewitt had asked him for $5,000 for a Memphis trip the Mayor might be taking. Timmerman referred him to the $400,000 payment his company, Eco-Tech, had already paid Prewitt from a job at the Hemphill Water Plant, telling Prewitt he was low on cash. This is a portion of the Government's transcription of the recording, which their records show occurred at 11:22 a.m.:

BT: "Uh, and, and, and the four hu...the four hundred thousand we paid to you sort of, it sort of took my profit away. Uh, so, maybe you can get by on that for a while."

FP: "And that went the other way, but yeah. Uh, and I was on the phone with him just, just then."

Martin then used one of the Government's set of travel records they've admitted on Campbell's frequent flier miles to show that Campbell was actually flying back from Newark at the time of the call to Campbell's office, when Prewitt indicated he had been on the phone with the Mayor.

Martin grilled Grant on why he had not told jurors that Campbell wasn't in town at the time of the call. Martin said the flight record would show Campbell's flight had left just before 11:00 that morning and was not due to land until after 1:00 that day. Grant said he hadn't checked the times.

"Don't you think you owe it to the jury that when you represent this call went to the Mayor's office, you tell them that he was not even in town?" Martin asked. "Making the inference that Prewitt was truthful when he said 'I just spoke to him'-that's not accurate, is it?"

Lastly, Grant acknowledged the testimony Prewitt had given a federal grand jury in this case.

"In March of 2000, he said he'd never passed on a cent of this bribe money to the Mayor?" Martin asked.

"That was his statement then," Grant replied.

Martin read from the transcript.

" 'Have you ever given a cent, have you ever given money to Mayor Campbell at all?'" Martin read. " 'No, no, no,'" was Prewitt's response. Prewitt also told the grand jury he had never given Campbell money for gambling.

Thursday, 9 February 2006