Bribes Over $18 Million-Dollar-Deal for Wastewater Treatment Plant

Ex-Mesa legislator, Pinal developer indicted for bribery

By Evan Wyloge and Jim Small, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting 12 hrs ago East Valley Tribune

"Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged former Arizona Corporation Commissioner Gary Pierce, his wife, prominent lobbyist Jim Norton and utility owner George Johnson with conspiracy, bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud, over what prosecutors lay out as a scheme to pay off Pierce in return for favorable regulation by the Corporation Commission surrounding a special $18 million wastewater plant deal. . . "

According to the charges filed in U.S. District Court on May 23, Pierce, his wife and Norton set up a scheme to have Johnson, the head of a Pinal County water company, make regular payments to Pierce.

Gotta wonder, huh?

Blogger Note:
1. Another story in AZ Capitol Times
2. Connections to Mesa: At the time of an FBI investigation back in 2015, Pierce was employed by Mesa-based Americopy, a large commercial printing company that also has a division called Amagine Communications that runs Republican campaigns for the commission with the Clean Elections money the candidates get.
3. The campaign to elect John Giles mayor of Mesa paid over $30,000 to AmeriCorps for 'campaign materials' [public campaign documents from Mesa City Clerk's office]
The CEO of Americopy/Amagine Communications is Alan Heywood an influencial East Valley Republican donor and chairman of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce.
Source: Wikipedia

In all, Pierce got $31,500 from Johnson, prosecutors allege. In return, Johnson got a $18 million wastewater plant added back into the company’s base rate – essentially putting the entire cost onto ratepayers. Pierce also spearheaded an effort to allow Johnson’s company to recover income taxes by passing the cost on to ratepayers.

 

 

 

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS:

[Infographic inserted to show that here in Mesa Water + Wastewater Treatment are more than half of expenses] 

Norton, who at the time worked for the lobbying firm R&R Partners, and an unnamed, unindicted co-conspirator agreed to arrange the payments between Pierce and Johnson. The co-conspirator created a consulting firm that  contracted with Johnson International and was paid roughly $7,000 per month. That consulting firm then paid Sherry Ann Pierce $3,500 a month for 10 months in 2011 and 2012 for what amounted to a job that included little more than “simple tasks.”

Norton and Pierce also made plans in late 2011 to purchase a $350,000 piece of land together, court documents show, using money that would have been provided by Johnson.