Former Michigan Mayor Receives 71 Months for Bribery, Conspiracy

Former Taylor, Mich., Mayor Richard Sollars was sentenced to 71 months in prison for conspiring to accept bribes and engage in wire fraud while in office, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

According to the DOJ, Sollars awarded city contracts and spent campaign funds for his own personal gain. Between 2016 and 2018, he recommended a company owned by his co-defendant, Shady Awad, receive the majority of tax-foreclosed properties acquired by the city’s Right of First Refusal program, in exchange for free home renovations and other items of value that Awad provided to Sollars for his personal residence, office, and ...