While the FBI’s sting operation ended in the arrest of former mayor Patrick Cannon yesterday, the agency is still carrying out other, related investigations in Charlotte.
Court documents submitted by the U.S. attorney’s office mention investigations into the Charlotte business community—that is actually how the Cannon sting began. The agency inserted an undercover agent into Charlotte in 2010 to look into possible public corruption. He posed as a businessman representing a Chicago venture capital firm, and began mingling in Charlotte’s business community. But, it was not until the next year that the agency made the then-city councilman a primary target.
The Department of Justice will not comment on the Cannon case, but admits other investigations mentioned in its complaint against him are still open.
The documents do not lay out the nature of those investigations, but there are a couple of clues.
The FBI claims having evidence that Cannon accepted money and gifts for favors. The affidavit mentions one exchange in particular, but “the details are not set forth in this Affidavit for ongoing investigative reasons."
No businessmen have been arrested in conjunction, but it’s just as illegal to bribe a public official, as it is for that official to accept the bribe.
