Political consultant Sam Riddle gave up his outspoken fight against federal corruption charges Thursday and pleaded guilty to a crime that will send him to prison for up to 37 months.

Former state Rep. Mary Waters, Riddle’s co-defendant in a Southfield bribery case, pleaded to a misdemeanor tax charge and is expected to get probation.

The plea deal — which also resolves Riddle’s Detroit corruption case — followed a 2 1/2 -hour closed-door session with lawyers and U.S. District Judge Marianne O. Battani.

“This is a global resolution of the cases of both defendants,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gardey.

“It’s a great day for the city of Detroit and for the city of Southfield,” Gardey said. “Sam Riddle is guilty of bribery, extortion and tax evasion. Mary Waters is guilty of a fraudulent tax return.”

The deal came hours before a deadline set by prosecutors and less than two weeks before Riddle and Waters were to stand trial before Battani on charges they bribed former Southfield City Councilman William Lattimore.

Riddle had said he planned to fight the charges until his recent conviction in Wayne Circuit Court.

Riddle is to be sentenced Wednesday on assault and weapons charges related to a December domestic violence incident involving Waters, his former live-in companion.

He faces a minimum of two years in that case, and his attorneys sought a deal that would allow him to serve all his sentences at the same time in a federal prison.

“I had to make a very tough, practical decision about being free as soon as possible,” Riddle said outside court. “After my term of incarceration, I will return and fight to make Detroit a better place.”

He went home and posted a message to his more than 5,000 friends on the social network site Facebook: “Sorry if I disappointed anyone.”

Though he pleaded guilty to a single conspiracy count, Riddle admitted to facts that included bribing Lattimore, extorting more than $40,000 from business people when he worked for former Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, and conspiring to evade income taxes.

His sentencing cap — 37 months — is the same amount of time Conyers received after she pleaded guilty to bribery conspiracy.

Riddle’s first Detroit corruption trial ended in February in a hung jury. Prosecutors will ask to dismiss those charges, to circumvent a scheduled July retrial before U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn.

There’s no guarantee Riddle will serve his time in what many consider a better funded and better managed federal prison system, rather than the state one. Richard Convertino, who represents Riddle in the Detroit case and Waters in the Southfield case, said he will recommend that Riddle surrender to federal authorities and have his federal bond revoked prior to his state court sentencing on Wednesday. That way, he will be in the custody of U.S. Marshals and more likely to serve his time in a federal prison, Convertino said.

Riddle and Waters are scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 17 by Battani. Both agreed to surrender pricey watches they received from Thomas Labret, owner of Zeidman’s Jewelry and Loan, in connection with the Southfield case.

Waters said her misdemeanor conviction will not interfere with her recently announced bid for state Senate. A felony conviction is a bar to officeholders but a misdemeanor is not.

“I received a Rolex watch as a gift and I didn’t pay taxes on it,” Waters said, describing the facts outlined in her plea deal. “I can agree to that.”

Riddle and Waters were charged with bribing Lattimore in connection with a pawn shop relocation. Lattimore pleaded guilty to bribery and awaits sentencing.

Convertino noted that in the space of 24 hours Waters went from facing 10-year bribery charges to pleading guilty to a misdemeanor tax charge with no prison time.

“Simply put, that’s a fire sale,” Convertino said.

Birmingham attorney John McManus, who represented Riddle in the Southfield case, said: “If Mr. Riddle is satisfied with the final result, then who am I not to be satisfied?”

The case was investigated by the FBI and the criminal division of the IRS.

“People who engage in public corruption will be held accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade. “It is reprehensible when people cheat the taxpayers of cities that are already struggling financially.”

Source:The Detroit News/ Paul Egan