DETROIT (WXYZ) — The former Mayor of Taylor is facing years in prison after entering into a plea agreement in a federal corruption case.
Rick Sollars has agreed to plead guilty to Count 1 and Count 19 of the indictment against him. Those charges are conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and wire fraud. Count 1 carries a 5-year prison term, a $250,000 fine, and not more than three years of supervised release. Count 19 carries a 20-year prison term, a $250,000 fine, and not more than three years of supervised release.
Under the agreement, both sides agree to let the court determine the appropriate sentence under the guidelines. However, they also agree that a 71-month sentence is appropriate for the case. If the court imposes a sentence over the 71 months, Sollars can withdraw his plea.
The government can withdraw from the plea if the court rejects it based on sections of the agreement other than the recommended sentence, including provisions to drop the other charges and an agreement not to charge other crimes based on the information from this case.
As part of the agreement, Sollars admits to bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds by accepting things of value in order to influence and reward business transactions related to the City of Taylor's Right of Refusal program.
Sollars is one of three people indicted by a federal grand jury in the case. The indictment charged Sollars, Shady Awad, who is a businessman and owns a company called Realty Transition, and Jeffrey Baum, the city of Taylor's community development manager.
According to the indictment, Awad's company, Realty Transition was selected by Sollars to develop a majority of the tax-foreclosed properties in the city's Right of First Refusal (ROFR) program. The indictment said in 2015, Realty Transition was awarded the right to develop all 95 of the city's properties. In 2016, they were awarded 29 of the 34 properties; in 2017, it was 38 of 45 properties, and in 2018, it was all 37 properties, according to the indictment.
Sollars had been under federal investigation for months and released a lengthy video on his campaign's Facebook page saying he was an innocent man whose life has been turned upside down by the FBI.
As for the conspiracy to commit bribery charge, the indictment said that Sollars accepted over $30,000 in renovations to Sollars' home, over $11,000 in renovations to Sollars' lake house, over $12,000 worth of household appliances and cabinets, cash and other items from Awad, all with intent to influence and reward Sollars and Baum to give Awad's company city business.
A majority of the bribery charges related to different things that happened between Awad, Sollars and Baum, including renovations on his home, the installation of hardwood floors and much more.
You can read the entire plea agreement below:
Richard Sollars plea agreement by WXYZ-TV Detroit on Scribd
