SAINT LOUIS, MO (KMOX) - The indicted head of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen calls it quits.
Five days after he was indicted for bribery, and just 15 minutes before a demonstration was to begin in front of his home with protesters calling for his resignation, Lewis Reed issued his letter of farewell.
Thank you, St. Louis, for the greatest challenge and honor of my life. pic.twitter.com/SktC9CFoEI
— Lewis E. Reed (@LewisReedSTL) June 7, 2022
Reed says, " I am heartbroken and saddened to have to make the difficult decision to step down..." "I cannot fulfill these duties," he says, "as I take the time to focus on my family and my current legal challenges."
Reed, 22nd Ward Alderman Jeffrey Boyd and 21st Ward Alderman John Collins-Muhammad appeared in Federal Court Thursday afternoon.
According to the 66-page indictment, between January of 2021 and March of this year, Collins-Muhammad accepted several thousand dollars in cash payments, campaign contributions, an automobile and other items in exchange for helping a business owner obtain tax increment financing for a gas station/convenience store on Geraldine Ave. in his ward. He also allegedly introduced the business owner to another public official who could help his company receive city contracts. Collins-Muhammad and the business owner agreed to split any profits from those contracts. Collins-Muhammad resigned from the board in May.
Reed also sits on the city's three member budget board, on the airport commission and the East-West Council of governments.
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