A three judge panel of the 5th Circuit US Court of Appeals said the bribery conviction and six-year prison term for a former Richardson mayor and her now-husband were fair and will stand.
Laura Jordan, formerly Laura Maczka, and her husband Mark Jordan were found guilty in 2019 in a scheme to approve controversial apartments shortly after Jordan’s election.
Jordan, Richardson's first-directly elected mayor, ran on a platform of rejecting new apartments in Richardson. But that changed shortly after she was elected when she began a steamy affair with developer Mark Jordan who had proposed a development along US 75. The appeals court said Laura was bought-off with a new job, expensive trips and sex.
At the time, Laura Maczka and Mark Jordon were married to other people. Their spouses both suspected the two were having an affair, something the appeals court noted was confirmed when the two dumped their spouses and married one another.
Mark Jordan showered Maczka with gifts, expensive trips, sex and a new job that Maczka was not qualified for.
There were two complete trials. The first attempted ended in a mistrial when a bailiff had an improper conversation with a juror during a break in deliberations. The second case ended in a conviction on charges of bribery and conspiracy.
In their appeal, the Jordans both contended there was insufficient evidence to sustain a bribery conviction based on a theory of quid pro quo, or that Laura Jordan’s vote was based on the gifts from Mark Jordan.
“A review of the record in this matter establishes that there was sufficient evidence of a quid pro quo,” the court opinion said.
Both Jordan’s have been out of jail on bond since the conviction. It is not clear whether the Government will move to revoke bond if there are further appeals.
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