Man who helped authorities bring charges against US Rep. Conyers’ wife sentenced to 11 months

Man who aided Detroit corruption probe gets prison

DETROIT — A judge ordered an 11-month prison sentence Monday for a man who approved bribes to win a Detroit sludge contract but later helped federal authorities convict the wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers in the same corruption probe.

“Words cannot adequately convey the sorrow and regret. … My zeal and selfish acts caused a lot of harm,” said Jim Rosendall, who was a representative for Synagro Technologies, a Houston company that was hired to recycle sludge and build an incinerator.

U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn followed the recommendation of prosecutors and said Rosendall had done “extraordinary” work in cooperating with the FBI.

Synagro’s $47 million-a-year contract with Detroit, approved 5-4 by the city council, was rescinded after Rosendall pleaded guilty to conspiracy in January. He told the FBI that he signed off on cash payments to Monica Conyers when she was a member of the city council in 2007.

Court documents say Rosendall’s largesse — money, travel, champagne — was extended to other officials who have not been named or people with ties to those officials. But so far Conyers is the only politician to be charged. She pleaded guilty last summer, quit the council and will be sentenced Jan. 15.

Rosendall’s middleman in the scheme, local businessman Rayford Jackson, was recently sentenced to the maximum five-year prison term, partly because he has refused to help the FBI.

In court papers, prosecutors said Rosendall avoided direct contact with Conyers but “indisputably crossed the line” when he agreed to the bribes.

“He was led to believe, and accepted as true, that a ‘pay-to-play’ environment existed in Detroit and that he was expected, if not required, to spend money on city officials to obtain a contract, no matter how beneficial the Synagro contract was for the city,” assistant U.S. attorneys Mark Chutkow and R. Michael Bullotta wrote.

After agreeing to help the FBI, Rosendall secretly made audio and video recordings of people as he attempted to influence them. Prosecutors described his cooperation as “immensely valuable.” He declined to comment after the court hearing.

Synagro has said it is not a target and has cooperated with investigators. It had proposed to build a state-of-the-art waste incinerator to replace one in a heavily polluted pocket of Detroit.