Bay Area scrap dealer Sheldon A. Morris, the central figure in the city of Sacramento's water meter salvage scandal, has been charged in federal court with bribery and is scheduled to enter a plea Friday.
Morris, 76, of Novato, has been implicated in a scam involving the city's utilities department in which he was supplied with used water meters and scrap metals at the corporation yard and took them to recyclers.
Through his company Underground Express, Morris "transported used municipal equipment to recyclers in exchange for a fee, and purchased/sold used municipal equipment," the federal charging document states.
With respect to Sacramento, it says, he sold meters to a recycler in exchange for percentage commission from the sales, and also sold supplies to the city's Water Distribution Branch.
He set up a "slush fund" for part of the meter sale proceeds and used it to give money "to certain employees of the branch or ... to make purchases for the benefit of the branch," such as parties, gifts and other items, the document says.
He did this, it says, "with the intent to influence and reward" the city employees for allowing him to conduct the meter transactions.
Morris was charged Wednesday in an unusually quiet manner. He was charged in an "information" rather than a grand jury indictment, with no announcement from the U. S. attorney's office, and court documents indicate he is scheduled to appear Friday before U. S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. for arraignment and to enter a plea.
An information emanates directly from prosecutors and, typically, charges filed in such a manner mean the defendant has agreed to plead guilty and has cooperated with the government. Without such an agreement, he could face up to 20 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.
"Sheldon and I look forward to being in court Friday and finally starting the formal process in getting this affair behind us," David W. Dratman, attorney for Morris, said today.
Court documents filed in Sacramento Superior Court in June incorrectly stated that Morris was under indictment at that time, and also said he was cooperating with authorities.
The federal charges say that Morris operated his scheme at the Sacramento yard between 1999 and 2007 with the help of city workers and provided workers with checks, machinery and other gratuities worth thousands of dollars.
Morris also is charged with a similar scheme in Sonoma from 2000 to 2007, where a "slush fund" was set up and he provided checks to one employee for nearly $150,000, the information states.
He faces two counts of bribery of an agent of a program receiving federal funds, which stems from the fact that both Sacramento and Sonoma's utility departments received federal funding.
The scandal already has ensnared two city workers, with former water distribution superintendent Barry Holland retiring and later pleading guilty to taking bribes from Morris. He is cooperating with authorities and has not yet been sentenced.
A second worker, Kenneth John Guerard, was arraigned in Superior Court Wednesday on bribery charges and faces his next court date Sept. 24.
Authorities believe Guerard,, who was fired from his job as storekeeper for the city's water distribution branch, accepted two bribes from Morris in 2006: a storage container for his classic cars, valued at more than $2,000, and a $100 gift certificate from Home Depot.
