Dallas developer pleads guilty to bribing city council members, mayor pro tem
The Dallas real estate developer who faced federal bribery charges for his involvement with members of the Dallas City Council pleaded guilty Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
Sherman Roberts was the president of City Wide Community Development Corporation, a company that worked on Dallas real estate projects for years, including one CBS News Texas profiled in 2012.
The 70-year-old was indicted in December 2020.
Roberts bribed two City Council Members, Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway and City Council Member Carolyn Davis, to support loans and low-income housing tax credits for his apartment projects, according to court documents.
In return for several thousand dollars and the promise of future payments after her city council tenure ended, court documents claim Davis lobbied for Roberts' real estate projects, including Serenity Place, Runyon Springs, and Patriot's Crossing.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Davis promoted Serenity Place to the City Housing Committee and demanded other developers withdraw their applications. Court records also claim Davis recommended Serenity Place receive a 9% low-income housing tax credit and voted to approve a $1.9 million loan from the city.
"Right now you and me are making money," Roberts texted Davis shortly after the vote, according to court documents. About a month later, she repeatedly asked for more money, to which Roberts agreed.
Davis and Roberts also met with Mayor Pro Tem Caraway to address a problem with the Patriot's Crossing project, the U.S. Attorney said.
After agreeing to several hundred dollars in cash and a $2,000 monthly stipend, according to prosecutors, Caraway agreed to stop the city from requesting proposals for the Patriots Crossing project and gave it to Roberts.
"How much is the project worth?" court documents state that Caraway asked. "Once you're successful with this project, don't forget about me."
"I won't forget about you," Roberts responded. "That's where the money is… the money has never been an issue."
Caraway pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and tax evasion and was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison.
In 2019, Davis pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery concerning an agent of a local government receiving federal benefits. She died in a car crash before being sentenced.
Prosecutors say Roberts was one of three real estate developers charged in connection with the bribery scandal. Devin Hall, the developer behind the Grand Park Place apartment project, pleaded guilty in August 2020. Ruel Hamilton, the AmeriSouth Realty Group executive who backed the Royal Crest housing project, is awaiting retrial on conspiracy and bribery charges.
Roberts faces up to five years in federal prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 12, 2025.