Jurors Hear Ellis Demand Donations in Secret Recordings

Jurors in the bribery trial of former DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis listened to secretly taped conversations he had with DeKalb Purchasing Director Kelvin Walton in which Ellis questioned why firms receiving large contracts from the county didn’t donate to his campaign.

Ellis faces 14 felony charges, ranging from bribery to theft, which he has consistently denied.

Ellis asked for lists of county contractors, and their phone numbers, in order to ask for campaign donations, according to testimony from Walton. Walton recorded conversations he had with his boss to collect evidence for prosecutors, reports The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

One conversation recorded at Café Lily in Decatur focused on Ellis criticizing Lichty Commercial Construction for management’s unwillingness to donate to political campaigns.

According to the newspaper, Ellis said to Walton, “I don’t understand why they won’t give. … They get a lot of our business. … They just won’t give. And that’s going to be part of the conversation. I mean people who don’t, who won’t support good government, and are a beneficiary of this good government.”

The jury also heard a recording of Ellis telling Walton to place a note in the file of Power and Energy Services so no other county work went to the company. Officials at the contractor had refused to donate to Ellis’ campaign.

The trial began Sept. 16 with the judge warning jurors they could be away from work for more than a month, WSB TV reports.

Ellis was indicted in the summer of 2013 by a DeKalb County grand jury on charges he illegally pressured contractors into giving him campaign contributions. He faces 14 felony charges that accuse him of shaking down county vendors for campaign donations and punishing those who did not give, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ellis has denied the charges.

»See full coverage of the Ellis trial on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website.

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