PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia developer Carl Dranoff took the stand Friday in the federal bribery trial of City Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson and three co-defendants, including Johnson's wife Dawn Chavous.
Some of his testimony was at odds with the government's allegations in the case.
Prosecutors called Dranoff, the CEO of Dranoff Properties, to testify about his role in a planned redevelopment of the Royal Theater on South Street.
In 2013 and 2014, the period covered by the indictment, the Universal Companies owned the dilapidated but historic property. Universal executives Rahim Islam and Shahied Dawan had been unable to develop the property.
The indictment alleges they bribed Johnson, via a consulting contract with his wife, to get him to change the zoning so they could sell it.
Dranoff's testimony, though, appeared to undercut that scenario.
Dranoff has developed dozens of major residential projects in the city, and he testified that when he needed a zoning change for a project, he typically went through City Council to get it. He said he couldn't remember exactly how many times he'd done it, but he said more than five.
Carl Dranoff, CEO of Dranoff Properties.NBC10
He said he had no fear a zoning change would pass because the project had near-unanimous community support.
Dranoff actually partnered with the executives to try to redevelop the theater, and he said zoning wasn't even the main problem.
Related Jawncast: A deep dive into the trial of Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson and three others including his wife, Dawn Chavous.
That testimony further undermines the prosecution's theory of what motivated the alleged bribe. Dranoff said historic commission approvals were a bigger obstacle and the loss of a state grant made it a "thin deal," meaning not very profitable. Dranoff said he ultimately pulled out over title issues.
After Dranoff testified, an FBI agent took the stand. He spent most of the afternoon authenticating hundreds of documents that were being introduced into evidence. His testimony was scheduled to resume on Monday.
Three elected officials are among the dozens of witnesses that prosecutors said they might call, including State Sen. Anthony Williams, for whom Johnson and Chavous both worked at one time.
The defense said it plans to call some prominent Philadelphians, too, including State Rep. Joanna McClinton, the first female minority leader of the state house.
The indictment in this case originally came in January 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the trial. It is expected to take about three weeks.
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