PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Prosecutors in the federal bribery trial of Philadelphia City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson turned their focus Monday on Johnson’s wife, Dawn Chavous.
They attempted to prove that a consulting contract she had with the charter school and housing non-profit Universal Companies was actually a bribe to her husband, and that in exchange, Johnson helped Universal with property the company owned in his district.
The government introduced a barrage of documents including emails, bank statements, tax records, copies of checks, Chavous’ two contracts with Universal and invoices she sent for her services.
The documents show Universal with a cash flow problem in April of 2013 that prompted staff layoffs.
But at around the same time, according to the dates on emails and contracts, Universal hired Chavous for 20 hours of consulting work a month, for which she initially was to be paid $3,500. In June, the contract was revised with a new workload and higher fee, $4,500.
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Chavous sent invoices in May for one month’s work, and in August for three months work, with detailed breakdowns of her services.
They included strategic planning support, managing the relationship between Universal charters and the School District of Philadelphia, communications with elected officials, meeting with key stakeholders, planning a presentation on the success of Universal’s charter schools, correspondence with funding sources and planning for a 20th anniversary celebration.
FBI agent Richard Haag was on the stand all day walking the jury through the documents. After reviewing each of the invoices, assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Dubnoff asked if he had reviewed records and talked with witnesses to determine if Chavous had actually performed the work.
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Haag testified that he concluded that in May, she’d done “little to none.” But in subsequent months, he conceded, she did perform a number of the tasks in her invoice.
At one point, Chavous’ attorney Barry Gross objected that Haag’s testimony was misleading.
“He’s implying that’s all there was,” Gross said. But Judge Gerald McHugh ruled that was a subject for cross-examination.
It’s not clear when cross-examination may happen. Haag did not appear to be close to the end of his direct testimony when court recessed for the day.
Among the unusual disclosures on Monday was Haag’s testimony about a trip to Israel in July of 2013, arranged by Senator Anthony Williams and joined by Johnson, Chavous and then-Universal CEO Rahim Islam.
“It was diplomatic outreach between the people of Philadelphia and Israel,” Haag said.
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In a spectator seat for the day’s proceedings was former City Councilmember Jannie Blackwell.
“They really want to get him,” Blackwell said after listening to the scores of financial records the government introduced, dating as far back as 2011. “They’re going way back and really holding on tight.”
She said she was there to show her support for Johnson.
“He’s a good councilman,” she said. “He’s done a lot of good for his district.”
Johnson, Chavous and Universal co-founders Islam and Shaheid Dawan all face charges in the case.
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