Running Down That Hill: Yet Another Person Pleads Guilty in City Hall Corruption Case

By Robert Wilonsky Fri., Mar. 6 2009 at 1:11 PM

Categories: Crime

Hey, Don Hill, how many more folks pleaded guilty today in that City Hall corruption case?

And then there were three -- which is to say, three folks who have pleaded guilty in the Dallas City Hall corruption case, scheduled to go to trial in June. Taking his cue from Andrea Spencer and Allen McGill, lawyer John Lewis -- among the 14 named by the feds in the low-income housing development corruption case at Dallas City Hall -- today entered his own guilty plea. And, in exchange, he will agree to testify against former Dallas City Council member Don Hill, who has maintained his innocence.

The plea agreement, which will be made public later today, has "been under negotiations for a little while," Lewis's attorney, Clint Broden, tells Unfair Park. "We finally got something that seemed acceptable." Broden says that Lewis -- who's accused on Page 119 of the feds' 166-page indictment of demanding $250,000 from developer Bill Fisher on Hill's behalf -- could have served up to three years in federal prison, but hopes the judge will shorten the term because of his cooperation.

"He has had some serious health prblems," Broden says of his client, including "a few heart attacks." And, he says, "This was taking its toll on his family, and the publicity of a long trial would have been worse." Broden says he did not speak to Ray Jackson, Hill's attorney, before agreeing to the plea deal. At some point this afternoon, we will post the agreement. And rerun this picture of Don Hill.

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