Former Richardson mayor convicted for bribery

After a two-week trial, a former Richardson mayor was
convicted for bribery charges connected to her affair with a land developer.

Laura Maczka served as mayor of Richardson from 2013 until
2015, when details of her affair with a local real estate developer led
citizens to demand she step down from a newly-elected term in office. In May of
2018, she and her now-husband Mark Jordan faced seven counts in their
indictments, for which a trial began Feb. 25 in Sherman, Texas, about one hour
north of Dallas. They pleaded not guilty but were convicted on four charges on
March 7.

Indictments against Maczka and Jordan centered around the
benefits Jordan allegedly offered — money, home renovations, vacations and a
paid position with his business JP-KBS Richardson Holding — for her political
support behind a certain development project. The development, a housing
complex called Palisades, was controversial and highly contested in Richardson,
according to a Department of Justice press release. It included the
construction of more than 1,000 new apartments. Maczka declared during her
campaign that she would oppose the development but voted in favor of it.

UTD computer science alumnus Miguel Salinas lived in the
Palisades apartments, which he said were relatively empty while he lived there
between August 2017 and August 2018. He said he wasn’t surprised that Maczka
was convicted in the corruption case.

“I think it’s particularly bad because of the hypocrisy
from the mayor, campaigning against this exact thing,” he said. “Certainly,
we’re taught growing up that taking shortcuts never leads to any good. You
shouldn’t be able to buy your way out of the law.”

ATEC graduate Raul Velazquez, one of Salinas’ roommates at
the Palisades, said he was disappointed by Maczka’s actions.

“I have no words, really. As a public figure, you should
stand by your community and represent their concerns, but from what she has
done, she has failed at that,” he said. “Especially when her platform stood
against it. She never followed through.”

U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown helped produce a Department
of Justice press release on the bribery case.

“These are the kinds of things that make the public
distrust government officials,” Brown said in a statement. “Public servants
should not be for sale, and this indictment clearly indicates that that Ms.
Maczka’s vote was for sale, and Mr. Jordan certainly was willing to buy it.”

According
to the Department of Justice press release, Jordan allegedly paid Maczka more than $58,000 in cash and checks as well as over
$24,000 worth of renovations for her home. He also allegedly funded expensive
vacations and offered her a job with double the pay for that particular
position.

Maczka and Jordan’s defense attorneys, Jeff Kearney and Dan
Cogdell, declined to comment for this story but said in their court defense
that the zoning changes would have passed regardless of Maczka’s decision. With
her affirmative vote, the Palisades project received a 5-2 victory.

They also told jurors that Maczka and Jordan’s
relationships was “a love affair, not a bribe.”

“It’s an immoral choice,” said Cogdell in court. “It’s not
a federal felony.”

Maczka’s attorney said during the trial that Maczka’s
relationship with Jordan did not affect her vote on the Palisades development.

“When she looked at the Palisades project, she didn’t see
Mark Jordan,” he said. “And when she looked at Mark Jordan, she didn’t see
Palisades.”

Lead prosecutor Christopher Eason said during the trial
that lies covering up corruption were not connected to lies about their affair.

“At this point she wasn’t cheating on her husband,” he
said. “She was cheating on the city.”

In 2015, the city of Richardson began its own non-criminal
investigation into the relationship between Maczka and Jordan. Although the
city’s statement on Maczka’s indictment says the investigation found no
violations of city and state ethics, the resulting report was later given to
the Dallas County District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit for further review.
A later investigation found seven counts on which to indict Jordan and Maczka,
including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit bribery.

Brown,
the U.S. Attorney, said in a press release that the relationship undermined
public confidence in government.

“This was
more than an ethical violation,” he said in the release. “This was absolutely
criminal. We need juries that recognize public corruption for what it is and
support prosecutions that attempt to hold accountable those that cheat. This
jury certainly did that.”

After closing arguments on
March 5, the jury began discussing a final decision. After two days of
deliberation, the jury found Maczka and Jordan guilty on four counts. They face
up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Their sentencing date has not
yet been announced.