Judge calls Mitchell 'uncharged alleged co-conspirator' in court
Racketeering witness accuses ex-senator of being a go-between
By Gail Gibson
Sun Staff
Originally published January 23, 2003
A federal judge described former state Sen. Michael B. Mitchell Sr.
yesterday as an "uncharged alleged co-conspirator" in a high-profile
racketeering trial, and a key witness said Mitchell served as a go-between
in an effort to get a 12-year-old rape victim to change her story.
Testifying against his one-time friend and business partner, Louis W.
Colvin said that lead defendant James E. Gross Sr. had turned to Mitchell
after being arrested in the rape case in early 2001 and asked the former
Baltimore city councilman if anything could be done to persuade the girl
to
drop the charges.
According to Colvin's testimony, Mitchell in turn approached a convicted
tax evader and briber, Milton N. Tillman Jr., about talking to the girl.
Colvin said he learned about the exchanges from Tillman, who told Colvin
that he turned down the request.
"He said that Michael Mitchell told him what James wanted, and he wasn't
going to have anything to do with it," Colvin testified in a hearing outside
the presence of the jury hearing the racketeering case against Gross and
four other area men in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.
Mitchell is not charged with any crime. In an interview, his attorney
blasted the allegations.
"It's an outrageous accusation; unequivocally untrue," attorney Arthur
M.
Frank said. He dismissed Colvin's testimony as "uncorroborated
fairytales" and called the suggestion that Mitchell was a co-conspirator
"ridiculous in and of itself."
"If the government had any evidence that Mr. Mitchell was even remotely
involved, he would have been the first one charged," Frank said.
U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz, who is presiding over the trial,
made a brief reference to Mitchell as an "uncharged alleged
co-conspirator" during courtroom discussions with attorneys about how
much hearsay evidence the government could elicit from Colvin regarding
his interactions with the defendants and other individuals, including
Mitchell.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Harding and Christine Manuelian
declined to comment outside of court.
Mitchell has been mentioned repeatedly during trial testimony over the
past two weeks as someone the alleged ringleaders of the crime
organization turned to for advice on keeping their legitimate business
fronts -- Baltimore area nightclubs and other businesses -- running
smoothly while they operated what federal authorities have described as
a
violent, well-organized drug ring.
Colvin, who initially was charged as a leader of the crime ring but pleaded
guilty in an agreement that required him to testify for the government,
said
in court this week that on two occasions he and Gross met with Mitchell
at their former base of operation, Strawberry's 5000, when questions
arose about the ownership of the Rosedale nightclub.
Colvin said the men met to work out an "alibi" that would disguise the
fact
that Gross and Colvin, both convicted felons, were operating the bar.
An events promoter who worked closely with the men testified last week
that Gross and Colvin received a more favorable hearing date before the
Baltimore liquor board for a club they planned to open in late 2000 after
Mitchell met privately with city liquor board officials.
Frank said Mitchell's only interaction with Gross and Colvin was to refer
them to an attorney when they approached him for advice in the late
1990s. Frank said Mitchell had done some legal work for the men or their
relatives in the 1980s, before he lost his law license and resigned from
the
state Senate after a federal conviction on obstruction of justice charges.
Frank said Mitchell's role in the racketeering case had been inflated by
The Sun's coverage of the case to give an unfair perception of the
prominent Baltimore family.
"Michael Mitchell is not on trial, yet his name appears in the headlines,"
Frank said. "Michael actually did what he was supposed to do. They
came to him and he referred them to another attorney."
Tillman could not be reached yesterday to comment on Colvin's
testimony. He is a well-known figure in Baltimore for his 1993 federal
bribery conviction for offering to pay a city zoning officer $30,000 to
keep his nightclub, Odell's, open.
Gross and Colvin ran a series of troubled clubs during more than two
decades of friendships and business dealings. After Gross was jailed on
the rape charge in Baltimore County, however, Colvin testified that he
gradually took over operations of their last joint venture, the club
Intellects, and began feuding over profits with Gross' wife and adult son.
By late 2001, Colvin testified that he severed all dealings with the Gross
family and launched a new partnership with former heavyweight boxing
champion Hasim S. Rahman. Together, the two men planned a new
chapter for the club at 10 S. Calvert St., Colvin testified.
"We had decided to shut it down and rename it," Colvin said. The club
reopened in early 2002 as the Emineo -- a name picked by Rahman's
brother Yah Yah Cason, Colvin said.
According to Colvin's testimony, Rahman became a part owner in an
agreement that called for the boxer to invest $50,000 up front and an
additional $100,000 over a six-month period. Colvin also said he,
Rahman and Cason incorporated a new business to operate the club --
identified in state records as RYL Investment Group LLC.
Rahman in interviews has denied having any ownership interest in the club,
which was shuttered in June by city liquor board officials for violations.
Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun