MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. – A contractor has admitted that he bribed the former Madison Heights school board president, a “longtime friend,” with hundreds of thousands of dollars so his company could get contracts for $3.1 million worth of projects within the district
Scheme details
Officials said Albert Morrison, 61, and John David, 65, were involved in a bribery scheme while Morrison served as the elected president of the Madison District Public Schools Board of Education from 2012 through 2018.
During that time, David was an owner of Emergency Restoration, a building maintenance and reconstruction company, according to authorities.
Officials said David wrote checks from Emergency Restoration to Morrison’s solely owned company, Comfort Consulting, from 2014 through 2018.
Morrison would deposit the checks from David into his bank account, according to court records.
In exchange for those payments, Morrison would award David’s company with contracts for maintenance and construction projects at schools within the district, authorities said.
Morrison received at least $561,667 in payments from David, while David’s company received about $3,167,275 through contracts with Madison District Public Schools during the bribery scheme, according to officials.
David pleads guilty
On Thursday, April 13, David pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit federal program bribery and bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.
He told officials he had to “pay to play” in the district.
“Mr. David guaranteed he would receive work funded by Madison District Public Schools not by participating in a fair and transparent process, but by bribing those in positions of power,” said James Tarasca, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office.
Sentencing is scheduled for 1 p.m. August 14, 2023.
Accusations against Morrison
Morrison is accused of spending the money from David on personal luxuries, such as vacations in Florida and a boat slip.
“Children and their parents deserve a school system free of corruption,” United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison said.
Morrison denied having financial ties to David when he was confronted publicly at a Madison District school board meeting, court records say.
Morrison didn’t declare the payments from David to Comfort Consulting as income during the tax years 2014-2018, officials said. He didn’t file federal income tax returns from 2015 through 2018, records show.
By failing to declare the payments from David as income to the IRS, Morrison avoided paying about $118,200 in taxes, federal officials said.
Morrison and David were both originally charged in a superseding indictment with conspiracy to commit bribery. They were separately charged with three counts each of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.
Morrison was also charged with tax evasion and failure to file tax returns.