MichiganRadio

Monica Conyers Gets 3-Year Prison Sentence DETROIT, MI (Michigan Radio) - Former Detroit City Council member Monica Conyers has been sentenced to just over three in years in prison on a Federal corruption charge.

Monica Conyers pleaded guilty last year to a bribery conspiracy charge. She faced a maximum of five years in prison.

Conyers' lawyer managed to convince Judge Avern Cohn NOT to consider what Federal Prosecutors termed "other relevant conduct" when sentencing Conyers. Prosecutors had hours of FBI wiretaps they say prove Conyers repeatedly extorted money from people looking to do business with the city.

The wiretaps are from a years-long, ongoing Federal investigation into Detroit municipal corruption.

Conyers then suddenly told the Judge she wanted to withdraw her guilty plea. Cohn refused to let her.

Conyers told Cohn the media had pressured him to make a scapegoat out of her. The hearing ended with Conyers yelling that she would appeal the sentence.

Conyers' husband, Detroit Democratic Congressman John Conyers, wasn't present at the hearing.
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