The distinction between a gift and a bribe became cloudier under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year, and it just cleared a Dallas developer of federal charges.
Ruel Hamilton was found not guilty last week on all federal charges in a retrial over an alleged bribery scheme involving two former city council members, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Hamilton, founder of AmeriSouth Realty Group, was convicted in 2021 of bribing former Dallas councilmembers Carolyn Davis and Dwaine Caraway to advance his affordable housing projects.
Hamilton, who allegedly paid Davis $40,000, was sentenced to eight years in prison but never served time after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the conviction in 2022, citing improper jury instructions.
The court found that the jury in Hamilton’s first trial was misled on the distinction between a legal gratuity and a criminal bribe.
Prosecutors framed Hamilton’s payments as part of a “quid pro quo” arrangement, saying Hamilton paid Davis $40,000 between 2013 and 2015 to secure her support for his Royal Crest affordable housing project in Southern Dallas, in the Cedar Crest area of Oak Cliff. His plan to rehab 168 units for low-income tenants was ineligible for city approval. Had it gone forward, Hamilton stood to earn a $2.7 million developer fee.
The appeals court determined jurors were not properly instructed on the legal threshold required for bribery convictions. The 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Snyder v. United States further clarified that gratuities — gifts given without an explicit agreement — do not meet the standard for federal bribery charges.
During the retrial, which began earlier this month, Hamilton’s defense team argued that payments made to Davis and Caraway were either consulting fees or personal support, including contributions to cover medical expenses. The prosecution alleged those payments were exchanged for political favors that helped his projects win approval.
Davis pleaded guilty in 2019 to accepting $40,000 while serving as chair of the city’s housing committee but died later that year in a car crash. Caraway, who resigned from the council in 2018, was sentenced in 2019 to over four years in prison on unrelated corruption charges.
New York City–based Fairstead submitted plans for an $11.2 million renovation of the Royal Crest apartments, at 3558 Wilhurt Avenue, in November. Hamilton’s involvement with the project is unclear, but AmeriSouth is still named as the owner in county deed records.
This isn’t the only housing development–related bribery case to rock Dallas City Hall in recent years, nor was it the only one Davis and Caraway faced scrutiny over. In December, Developer Sherman Roberts admitted to paying the two council members to secure low-income housing tax credits for his projects, including Serenity Place and Patriots Crossing.
Hamilton’s acquittal marked the end of a four-year legal battle that reshaped the local discourse around influence, development and race in city politics. The case had drawn attention in Dallas political circles; Hamilton was one of the few white business leaders to face federal corruption charges in a region where, historically, prosecutions have more often targeted Black elected officials.
— Judah Duke
READ MORE LINKS:
https://therealdeal.com/texas/dallas/2024/11/15/developer-sherman-roberts-guilty-of-dallas-city-council-bribery/ https://therealdeal.com/magazine/october-2024/dallas-new-city-plan-deepens-divisions-over-urban-growth/
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