Not only are a couple of former officials in the administration of former Houston Mayor Lee P. Brown admitted crooks (earlier posts here, here and here), they are apparently not very persuasive witnesses, either.
The Chronicle’s Dan Feldstein has been doing a good job of connecting the dots in this developing story, the latest chapter of which has been playing out in a public corruption trial in Cleveland, Ohio. In his latest article, Mr. Feldstein reports that a federal judge in Cleveland declared a mistrial Tuesday after a jury deadlocked on most bribery charges against Cleveland area entreprenuer Nate Gray, who is the person from whom two former Houston officials — former Brown administration chief of staff Oliver Spellman and building services director Monique McGilbra — testified that they took cash and gifts. The retrial of the case will begin on August 8.
During the trial, an F.B.I. agent testified that Justice Department officials in Houston are continuing to pursue an investigation that is related to the Cleveland prosecution. It is not known at this time whether any other former Brown administation officials have been named as targets of that investigation.