The Ballad of Rudy Warnock was continued yet again in U.S. District Court. U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate postponed Warnock's bribery trial to August 5.
Warnock's attorney, John Collette, informed the Court he and co-counsel Tommy Spina had scheduling conflicts. The Justice Department did not oppose the motion.
A federal grand jury indicted the former Canton Municipal Utilities Engineer Rudy Warnock for conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud.Synopsis of Case
A federal grand jury indicted former Canton Municipal Utilities engineer Rudy Warnock for conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud and Cleveland Anderson for two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery in December 2021. The indictments were unsealed nearly a year later on November 22, 2022.
The grand jury also indicted former Canton Alderman Andrew Grant and Canton Alderman Eric Gilkey for Conspiracy to commit bribery (2 counts), conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud in December 2021. The two defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery.
The indictment alleges the defendants bilked CMU from the beginning of 2016 to the end of 2017. Commissioner Anderson moved to hire Warnock as CMU's civil engineer on August 16, 2016.
The indictment charges Warnock made regular payments to Anderson, Gilkey, and Grant in exchange for contracts and "favorable treatment" at CMU.
Some of the Warnock gifts included tickets to luxury suites at New Orleans Saints games and concerts in the Crescent City.
The indictment charges Warnock deposited a check "in the amount of $9,200, made payable to J.M. through the automated clearinghouse system of the Federal Reserve Bank System. Part of the proceeds of this transaction were given to defendants Grant and Gilkey in the form of $4,000 cash each.
The maximum penalty for the conspiracy to commit bribery is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalties for the wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges are 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Anderson pulled a little bit of bait and switch with Judge Wingate. The defendant submitted a petition to plead guilty in February. U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate held a hearing on September 26 to accept the plea but that is where things got squirrely for Anderson.
Judge Wingate denied the petition as he decreed:
On September 13, 2023, defendant CLEVELAND ANDERSON appeared before the Court with the stated purpose of changing his prior plea of “not guilty” to a plea of “guilty.” The Court questioned Defendant Anderson concerning the essential elements of the offense charged in Count 1 of the indictment, and Defendant Anderson denied that he acted corruptly or had corrupt intent as required by the elements of the charge in Count 1 of the indictment. Consequently, the Court did not accept Defendant Anderson’s plea of guilty, and set this case for trial on December 4, 2023 along with co-Defendant Rudolph M. Warnock, Jr.
Anderson's trial has been continued.
14 comments:
It's not over until the fat guy stops singing.
Now the judge is beginning to look suspicious...
Your honor, motion to fix.
Judge Wingate? Taking forever? Say it ain’t so!
As usual in Mississippi if you are connected, Crime does indeed pay.
Now with Bitcoin all these bribes can go undetected
This is what you get when you mix a Collette and a Wingate-
Hey- y'all lay off Judge Wingate- Not only is he the best thing Jackson has seen in years, he is a very good judge- I had rather have slow, thoughtful and accurate from a jurist vs fast and inaccurate!! Yes, he is a very good Judge and person.
It ain't Wingate that keeps delaying this case, folks. Gotta remember who Rudy's lawyer is - Collette can't bleed him for enough without taking more time, prior to his pleading him.
Issue might be better than that, though - could be the feds are still going through the multiple file of filming done at Rudy's place of the years and getting more and more support for their cases against someone not named Warnock. The longer this takes, the more a couple of Madison supervisors lose weight due to their sweating.
The judge could find Collette in contempt and proceed. If the judge wants to proceed.
10:06 - Please tell us how an attorney filing a motion to continue equals contempt.
6:40 - It's not just a couple of supervisors (past and present). And let's include an attorney or two still on county payroll.
How bigga plane can the Madison runway accommodate?
Rudy is soft. He either will, or has, rolled over o everyone he can if it would save him one day.
With two prosecutors coming in from DC might mean that Warnock is spilling the beans on his relationship with Bennie and Constable Brown. $$$$$$$$$$$$.
"Bennie and Constable Brown" are small potatoes in the MadCo scenario. Imagine three sitting supes, two previous ones and a couple of lawyers being indicted.
Bennie will resume his rightful position - In the back of the bus.
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