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Norfolk Treasurer Anthony Burfoot faces public corruption, perjury charges
The Virginian-Pilot ^ | 8 january 2016 | Tim Eberly and Scott Daugherty

Posted on 01/09/2016 1:38:49 AM PST by csvset

NORFOLK

City Treasurer and former Vice Mayor Anthony Burfoot was arrested Friday on federal political corruption charges alleging he accepted almost a half-million dollars in kickbacks while serving on the City Council.

Burfoot, who was elected treasurer in November 2013 after serving on the council for more than a decade, is accused of using his influence on the council to funnel work and favors to local businessmen.

He appeared in U.S. District Court on Friday afternoon wearing a light gray suit, his customary bow tie removed by federal agents as a security precaution. Burfoot was escorted into the courtroom in handcuffs but was allowed to leave without posting bond as long as he surrendered his passport and agreed to not speak with witnesses in the case. An arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 20.

In court, Burfoot offered no outward signs of emotion and spoke only briefly when the judge asked him direct questions. Outside the building, and with his bow tie back in place, he referred questions to his defense attorney.

"He's in disbelief," Andrew Sacks said, arguing the allegations aren't true and blaming them on Burfoot's political enemies and detractors. "These allegations are foreign to him."

Burfoot added he has no plans to step down from office.

"Absolutely not," he said.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alan Salsbury and Melissa O'Boyle declined to comment.

In all, Burfoot faces eight felony counts, including perjury, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and conspiracy to obtain property under color of official right.

The indictment references at least $475,000 in kickbacks and bribes Burfoot allegedly received between 2005 and early 2011 while representing Norfolk's Ward 3.

The charges stem from Burfoot's relationship with brothers Curtis and Dwight Etheridge and their now-defunct company, Tivest Development and Construction, and his dealings with another developer and local restaurant owner, Tommy Arney.

In exchange for cash, meals, travel, a Mercedes , appliances and home improvements, prosecutors allege, Burfoot steered construction projects to Tivest and lobbied for a strip club for Arney.

Some of the benefits he received, according to the indictment:

$5,000 for new heat pump and duct system in Burfoot's former home on Winthrop Street. Cash payments of $10,000 - and up to $30,000 - sometimes delivered to Burfoot at City Hall and the treasurer's office. Additional renovations to the Winthrop Street home, including new hardwood floors and remodeling the kitchen and bathroom.

Though it had been rumored for months, news of the indictment sent shock waves through Norfolk's political circles.

Councilman Barclay Winn, who served on the council with Burfoot, said he was surprised by some of the accusations.

"I am disappointed, but I am not going to pass judgment," he said. "Anytime it happens in any city, it's not good. We are all going to be painted with a broad brush."

Sheriff Bob McCabe, who is running for mayor, called for Burfoot to "take a leave of absence."

"The citizens of Norfolk need to have ... confidence in the city treasurer who is an elected, constitutional officer," he said in a prepared statement.

Mayor Paul Fraim did not return calls for comment, but a city spokeswoman released a statement late Friday afternoon.

"These are serious and distressing charges, but as Mayor and a lawyer, I have learned not to speculate," the statement read. "My trust is in the legal process as it runs its course."

Most of the indictment revolves around Burfoot's use of his elected position on the council to help Tivest. Documents said Burfoot became a silent partner in the company in 2005, but Sacks denied that allegation.

The indictment outlines in detail Burfoot's efforts to funnel work to Tivest in connection with the Broad Creek project, in which the city and its Redevelopment and Housing Authority tore down two public housing projects and replaced them with mixed-income housing. The project was arguably the crowning achievement for Burfoot in his decade on the council.

Federal authorities, however, say Burfoot took $100,000 from Dwight Etheridge while helping him secure at least 32 residential development projects in Broad Creek.

By late 2005, housing authority officials were privately expressing concerns about Burfoot's ties to Tivest, documents said. But Burfoot continued to work behind the scenes to get Tivest work, authorities allege.

Facing opposition from the housing authority in one case, Burfoot successfully lobbied for the city to take over the Broad Creek Villas mixed-use development. The indictment indicated Tivest missed a key deadline in 2005 to bid for the project. Burfoot, however, guaranteed the request for proposal would be scrapped and reissued, documents said. True to his word, it was, and Tivest landed the project.

The development was never completed, but Tivest had even redesigned the planned residential entrance so motorists' headlights would not shine into Burfoot's new home across the street, authorities allege.

John Kownack, the housing authority's executive director, said Burfoot was closely involved in the Broad Creek project, but he said he never saw the then-councilman do anything improper or illegal. He said Tivest won the contracts because the company was willing to build more for less.

"I had no indication that Tivest benefited or were favored in the relationship," he said.

The indictment also focuses on the Midtown Office Tower project, which fell apart in February 2011.

Fraim and then-Development Director Rod Woolard championed the proposed six-story tower at Virginia Beach Boulevard and Tidewater Drive, despite shortcomings such as limited parking.

According to the indictment, Burfoot promised Dwight Etheridge he would get the council votes necessary for Tivest to land the deal. In exchange, Dwight Etheridge paid Burfoot at least $50,000 in cash and other gifts. About that time, he also gave Burfoot $13,325 in new appliances for his new home on Woodland Avenue.

Dwight Etheridge got the votes he needed, and the deal included almost $1 million in city subsidies. He was initially going to get the nearly $1 million property at no cost, documents said.

But as the project hit financial roadblocks, Burfoot privately lobbied the council to invest more into the deal, documents said. The council did - twice - agreeing to lease 60,000 square feet of the building for 12 years and to help pay an anchor tenant's rent if the group could not pay. Despite the council's passing both changes, the project fell apart when it became clear the anchor tenant was having financial problems.

The indictment also alleges that Burfoot used his position to help a girlfriend, previously identified as Tammy Sansbury, buy a Norfolk condo.

To do so, Burfoot solicited and received $25,000 in 2009 from Arney, the indictment alleges.

In return, Burfoot promised to obtain the necessary votes for Arney to open a strip club on Granby Street in Norfolk, according to the indictment.

Those allegations originally surfaced in March 2013, when Arney testified in the federal bank fraud trial of Dwight Etheridge and Bank of the Commonwealth executives.

When Arney testified about the $25,000 bribe, it drew gasps from the audience.

"That is absolutely false," Burfoot said at the time.

Burfoot couldn't get enough support on the council for a club, but Sansbury, the mother of two of Burfoot's children, got the money - and the condo, the indictment says.

Dwight Etheridge is serving more than four years stemming from his role in the Bank of the Commonwealth collapse. He and Arney are among eight convicted of bank fraud in connection with the case.

A jury found Etheridge guilty of siphoning tens of thousands in bank loans that were intended to pay for projects, including the Midtown Office Tower. He is scheduled to be released in May 2017.

Arney pleaded guilty in 2012 as part of a plea agreement. He was sentenced the following year to 27 months in prison and has been released.

Burfoot won an open seat for treasurer after working in the office for more than four years.

He was elected to the council in May 2002 and became vice mayor in January 2007.

During his time on the council, Burfoot developed a reputation as a sharp dresser with an even sharper tongue. Unafraid to rock the boat, he often criticized then-City Manager Regina Williams and the city's practices and policies.

Still, he was considered an effective councilman, bringing money and investments to his ward.

Burfoot courted some controversy, too, including a past incident with Curtis Etheridge.

In November 2004, he and Burfoot went to the Chesapeake nightclub Blakely's and, in their effort to get VIP treatment, Etheridge pretended to be a sheriff, and Burfoot passed himself off as then-Councilman Clifton Hayes Jr., witnesses reported at the time.

Burfoot denied the accusation.

After the two got thrown out of the club, Etheridge made a 911 call, claiming people were shooting inside.

Etheridge was found guilty of impersonating an officer and making a false 911 call. Burfoot was not charged.

The indictment papers reference the decade-old incident, stating that Etheridge "did not disclose the extent of Burfoot's involvement in the incident."

It also stated that, around the time The Virginian-Pilot published an article about the incident, Burfoot expressed concern that his ties to Tivest would be discovered.

Staff writer Gary Harki and researchers Jakon Hays and Maureen Watts contributed to this report.

Scott Daugherty, 757-446-2343, scott.daugherty@pilotonline.com

Tim Eberly,

757-446-2794, tim.eberly@pilotonline.com Follow @TimEberly on Twitter


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: burfoot; corruption; democrat; norfolk; virginia

Steve Early | Virginian Pilot

City Treasurer and former Vice Mayor Anthony Burfoot was arrested Friday on federal political corruption charges alleging he accepted almost a half-million dollars in kickbacks while serving on City Council.

1 posted on 01/09/2016 1:38:50 AM PST by csvset
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To: csvset

This guy is a friggen clown. Oh, and a Democrat as well. Love the pic, good shot Mr. Early.


2 posted on 01/09/2016 1:40:58 AM PST by csvset ( Illegitimi non carborundum)
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To: csvset

but he doesn’t drink or swear


3 posted on 01/09/2016 1:52:18 AM PST by This_far
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To: csvset

Never trust a black guy with a bowtie / S


4 posted on 01/09/2016 3:30:56 AM PST by Popman (Christ alone: My Cornerstone...)
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To: csvset

He looks a little like Avery Brooks.


5 posted on 01/09/2016 4:07:30 AM PST by Tax-chick (Maximizing my cultural appropriation.)
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To: csvset

The lawyer, Sacks, on the right, famously defended a circuit court judge who attempted to kill the House of Delegates member who had arranged for the judge to be elected to the court. Sacks lost and the judge served time.

http://www.richmond.com/news/local/city-of-richmond/article_43f39e25-7a17-55a6-864d-5ddc8a6de02f.html


6 posted on 01/09/2016 6:12:19 AM PST by Captain Jack Aubrey (There's not a moment to lose.)
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To: Captain Jack Aubrey
Lord, I remember that case, lol. Both Robinson and Edmonds have since passed away, Robinson in 2006 and Edmonds in 2011. Two, ahem, "colorful" figures in Virginia politics.

I seriously doubt Sacks will be able to save Mr. Burfoot's hide.

A quick note, a few years back Burfoot was bitching and complaining about a proposed thrift store, stating that thrift stores wasn't the sort of business Norfolk needed. Alas, Burfoot thought what Norfolk did need was another titty bar.

7 posted on 01/09/2016 6:43:14 AM PST by csvset ( Illegitimi non carborundum)
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To: csvset

I’m curious. How did you know he is a Democrat? I couldn’t find that mentioned in this unbiased news article.


8 posted on 01/09/2016 6:46:52 AM PST by Real Cynic No More (Border Fence Obamacare!)
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To: Real Cynic No More
I was 99% sure he was a D but I had to confirm it via a web search, lol.

To my knowledge there aren't a whole bunch of elected black Republicans in Virginia.

There is a Facebook page for Virginia Black Republicans though.

Oddly enough, a black female Republican, Winsome Sears, did defeat Mr. Robinson, (mentioned in posts 6 & 7), for a seat in the House of Delegates and held office from 2002-2004.

In 2004, she subsequently lost a race for the Virginia Senate against Bobby Scott and then left the political scene.

9 posted on 01/09/2016 7:13:43 AM PST by csvset ( Illegitimi non carborundum)
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To: csvset

The thrift store thing is a mystery to me. Every time a “Dollar” store of any kind is proposed anywhere near where black people live there is an uproar in the community. Happens all the time in Richmond. But the Dollar stores have low prices. So what is the big deal? I don’t get it. And it always gets lots of publicity, but the reporters never tell the real story behind the opposition, for some reason.


10 posted on 01/09/2016 5:04:53 PM PST by Captain Jack Aubrey (There's not a moment to lose.)
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To: csvset

Found guilty on six of eight counts. Will be sentenced in April. Looking at 12 1/2 to 15 years.


11 posted on 12/09/2016 4:47:29 PM PST by flair2000
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To: flair2000

Thanks for the update, had just got home from work, hadn’t heard the verdict.


12 posted on 12/09/2016 7:34:27 PM PST by csvset ( Illegitimi non carborundum)
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