ICYMI: DeKalb Businessman Pleads Guilty to Bribing Official

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A DeKalb County business owner has pleaded guilty to charges that he paid a member of the DeKalb County Zoning Board of Appeals to vote in favor of a variance that benefited his business, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced last week.

Ismail Sirdah, 53, of Duluth pleaded guilty to one count of bribery on March 25 and will be sentenced on June 15, the attorney’s office said. Jeremy “Jerry” Clark, the former board member, pleaded guilty to accepting Sirdah’s bribe on Feb. 19. He will receive his sentence on April 30.

In 2008, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners passed new zoning rules for late-night establishments and nightclubs. Sirdah, who owned LuLu Billiards in Tucker, learned that he had been grandfathered in as a late-night establishment and could not operate as a nightclub or have a dance floor. LuLu Billiards had operated as a nightclub prior to the 2008 ruling and already possessed a dance floor, the attorney’s office said.

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According to the attorney’s office, LuLu Billiards continued to operate as a nightclub and use a dance floor until 2012. That year, LuLu Billiards was warned again and reminded that it was only legally allowed to operate as a late-night establishment. Sirdah appealed, claiming LuLu Billiards should have been grandfathered in as a nightclub in 2008.

Before the Zoning Board of Appeals heard Sirdah’s case, he approached Clark and promised that if Clark voted to allow LuLu Billiards to operate as a nightclub, Sirdah would make it worth his while, the attorney’s office said.

In November of 2012, the Zoning Board of Appeals approved Sirdah’s request, with Clark voting in favor of the proposal. According to the attorney’s office, Sirdah duly paid Clark $2,000 and donated an additional $1,500 to a non profit interest connected to the board member.

“Zoning rules exist to protect neighborhoods from businesses and establishments that might disrupt the residential aspect of our communities,” said Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn in a statement. “This case illustrates how greed and cash payments can sell out the legitimate interests of our citizens.”

“While the FBI’s focus in public corruption matters is primarily with that of the public official, it can readily shift to those individuals who attempt to corrupt those officials. That was seen in this case involving Mr. Sirdah, an area business owner, who purchased the vote of a DeKalb County Zoning Board member in a county action that impacted his business,” J. Britt Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, said in a statement.

”This guilty plea of Mr. Sirdah’s, for those criminal actions, should serve as a reminder that the FBI will not tolerate efforts to unduly and illegally influence government officials in this manner.”