Conyers worries about FBI investigation

City councilwoman says advice of her congressman husband is to 'be quiet and shut up'

Paul Egan / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers says she's worried about an ongoing FBI investigation into City Hall corruption but does not feel she can control its outcome.

"Of course you worry," Conyers said Friday in an interview with The Detroit News.

However, "there is nothing that I can do about it."

Aside from any advice her Detroit attorney, Steve Fishman, has given her, Conyers' husband, U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, has told her to "be quiet and shut up," Conyers said.

Conyers is under FBI investigation in connection with bribery allegations, particularly in connection with a $1.2-billion sewage sludge contract the Detroit City Council awarded in 2007.

She gave Friday's interview during a videotaped cooking demonstration at the Butchers Inn in Detroit's Eastern Market, during which she prepared meals for some of the restaurant's lunch patrons. She talked about her love of cooking, the effect the media glare from the investigation is having on her and her children, and how she sometimes feels public life is not worth the hassle.

The interview will be posted Tuesday on detnews.com.

Conyers changed her position from opposing to supporting the Synagro Technologies Inc. contract, allowing it to pass in a 5-4 vote.

She has been identified by people familiar with the investigation as the "Council Member A" referenced as receiving bribes in federal plea documents filed by former Synagro official James R. Rosendall Jr. and Detroit businessman Rayford W. Jackson, who was Synagro's local partner in the deal.

The News reported Friday that Conyers also is under scrutiny in connection with thousands of dollars in jewelry allegedly received from Zeidman's Jewelry and Loan, a pawn shop with outlets in Detroit and Southfield, and in connection with her conduct as a Detroit pension trustee handling investment requests from Detroit businessman Melvin Washington and his Phoenix Group of companies.

Conyers had still not responded Friday to an offer from federal prosecutors to plead guilty to a five-year bribery related felony as a way of resolving the investigation, sources said.

On Friday, Conyers said she couldn't discuss the plea offer. Asked if the allegations against her are true, she replied: "You know I can't talk about that."

Conyers said she sometimes feels she should give up public life, but, "I love helping people; I love my city. It's all about helping people in the city of Detroit."

The investigation of Conyers is part of a long-running and wide-ranging investigation of alleged corruption at Detroit City Hall. Former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick; his father, business consultant Bernard N. Kilpatrick; city contractor and Kilpatrick friend Bobby Ferguson; and former Kilpatrick administration official Derrick A. Miller are among those under scrutiny.

Also under investigation is political consultant Sam Riddle, a former aide to Conyers.

Rosendall and Jackson have pleaded guilty to bribery conspiracy in connection with the Synagro contract and await sentencing. Three other defendants await sentencing after pleading guilty to felony charges in connection with corrupt contracts at Detroit's Cobo Center.

Asked if she is scared, Conyers answered negatively, but then added: "I'm scared of God."

pegan@detnews.com (313) 222-2069