Spence-Jones corruption issue gets spotlight again
Things are not looking good for City of Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones. It seems that Rev. Gaston Smith, pastor of Friendship Baptist Church, has given very damaging information to law enforcement and investigators since his arrest several months ago.
Here's an excerpt of coverage by The Miami Herald:
MIAMI | CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION
In police interview, pastor says he feels used
The Rev. Gaston Smith told investigators he didn't know Michelle Spence-Jones was arranging a grant for his nonprofit group.
Posted on Sun, Apr. 20, 2008
BY SCOTT HIAASEN
The Rev. Gaston Smith sat in the Miami-Dade state attorney's office last October facing a veteran prosecutor and a pair of investigators with some uncomfortable questions about one of his parishioners: Miami City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones.
The investigators wanted to know about $8,000 in consulting fees that Smith paid Spence-Jones before she was elected in 2005. The money came from a $25,000 Miami-Dade County grant to Friends of MLK, a nonprofit organization the pastor ran.
Under questioning, the pastor said Spence-Jones, then an aide to Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, had urged him to create the nonprofit in the first place -- and that she had helped arrange the county grant without his knowledge. Smith said he felt like he had been used. [More…]
Things just seem to be getting worse and worse for Michelle Spence-Jones.
Posted by: Kelliann | Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 03:10 PM