Attorney accused of helping commit bribery
Defense lawyer says blame lies with Reynolds, Rizzo
An Oakland County attorney is fighting allegations he bribed and helped bribe a former Clinton Township official so his client, garbage-hauling contractor Charles Rizzo, could secure an extended municipal contract.
Jay Schwartz of Northville is on trial this week in U.S. District Court in Port Huron on two counts of bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery on the allegations he provided free legal services to Dean Reynolds and helped Rizzo, former CEO of the now-defunct Rizzo Environmental Services in Sterling Heights, bribe Reynolds with $3,000. The alleged bribes were paid to help Rizzo gain favor for a multi-million dollar contract extension approved in February 2016 by the township Board of Trustees, according to federal authorities.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gene Crawford alleged Monday through documents presented in court that the Schwartz Law Firm in Farmington Hills provided 152.5 hours of legal services to Reynolds for his 2015 divorce case, which should have cost $44,000, based on a $195 per hour rate. But Reynolds only paid $1,500.
Schwartz’s firm had done an increasing amount of legal work for Rizzo Environmental, topping out at $365,000 worth of business in 2015, according to documents presented in court.
FBI Agent Robert Beeckman testified about a slew of telephone calls, voicemail messages, text messages and emails exchanged between the parties, also including Reynolds’ former attorney Anthony Selva.
The feds said the communications show Schwartz also helped Rizzo and Reynolds cover up Rizzo paying $3,000 in cash to Reynolds for a psychological exam as part of Reynolds’ contentious divorce case by advising them to have a thirdparty, a male family friend, sign a promissory note saying he loaned the money to Reynolds. Schwartz feared if Reynolds, who was pleading poverty in the divorce case, suddenly came up with the money, it would be made known to the judge.
“You guys gotta find a third party to give (Reynolds) a loan,” Schwartz told Rizzo in a Aug. 15, 2015, recorded telephone conversation. “It’s got to be a loan.”
In his opening statements Monday, Schwartz’s attorney, Thomas Cramner, told jurors the feds’ case lacks evidence and placed blame on Reynolds and Rizzo, both of whom are serving time in federal prison for their roles in this and related cases. Schwartz was unaware of any bribery or quid pro quo, Cramner contended.
“Did Jay knowingly and voluntarily join the conspiracy?”
Cramner said. “That didn’t happen, and the evidence is going to show it didn’t happen.”
He said Reynolds’ $1,500 payment to Schwartz was a “fixed fee” for his firm representing him in his divorce from Tammy Reynolds, which was finalized in 2016 in Macomb County Circuit Court. He noted Reynolds filed for bankruptcy in 2014.
“That’s not uncommon; lawyers discounting a fee or having a fixed fee is common,” Cramner said. “What you’re not going to hear (from U.S. attorneys) is why the fee was discounted. You’re not going to hear Chuck Rizzo asking for a discount. It doesn’t exist. It’s merely a government theory.”
He inferred Schwartz only advised Reynolds to obtain a legitimate loan.
“Jay Schwartz said, ‘You go out and find somebody to loan you the money and you properly document it,’” Cramner said.
Schwartz emailed a sample promissory note to Reynolds that he could use as a template, records show. Reynolds sent it to Selva, who substituted it with his own version that was signed by a friend of the Reynolds’ family who never provided any funds, Beeckman said.
“Dean Reynolds took that promissory note that Jay sent to him and went to a disbarred attorney, Anthony Selva,” Cranmer said in reference to Selva losing his law license several years ago and never seeking to renew it.
“You’re not going to hear any evidence, zero, I mean zero, that Anthony Selva discussed that promissory note with Jay Schwartz,” he said. “The reason you’re not going to hear it is because it all occurred behind Jay Schwartz’s back.”
Cramner accused Beeckman of undermining Schwartz’s effort to advise Rizzo and Reynolds that Reynolds should abstain from the township vote because of his relationship with Rizzo. Reynolds had vouched for Rizzo’s company at a Livonia City Council meeting, and there were other known contacts between the men.