Madison Heights schools leader pleads guilty in contractor bribery scheme

Detroit — The former president of Madison District Public Schools has pleaded guilty Tuesday to tax evasion and pocketing bribes from a contractor.

Albert Morrison, 62, faces up to five years in prison on each count after admitting to pocketing more than $561,000 from the contractor, John David, in exchange for awarding more than $3.1 million in maintenance and construction projects to his firm, Emergency Restoration, from 2014-18. Morrison spent the money on personal luxuries, including Florida vacations and a boat slip.

Morrison is among more than 130 politicians, elected leaders, union bosses and bureaucrats charged with public corruption during a prolonged federal crackdown in Metro Detroit in recent years.

“This pay-to-play scheme damaged the Madison District Public Schools and undermined the community’s trust in the education system,” U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said in a statement. “This prosecution demonstrates we will not allow the greed of corrupt school officials to harm the interests of our children.”

Sentencing is set for Aug. 28 in federal court in Detroit.

The plea hearing in front of U.S. District Judge Laurie Michelson came two weeks after David admitted bribing Morrison, his longtime friend. David faces up to 10 years in federal prison when sentenced Aug. 14.

Morrison tried to keep the payments a secret, prosecutors alleged.

He was confronted during a board meeting but denied having any ties to David or the contractor's company, prosecutors alleged. The duo also failed to disclose the payments to state auditors.

Morrison failed to declare the bribery income to the IRS from 2014-18 and did not file tax returns for several years, according to the government. As a result, Morrison avoided paying approximately $118,200 in taxes.

"His actions intentionally betrayed the public's trust that he would act in the best interest of the school district and children," James Tarasca, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, said in a statement. "Further, his actions destroyed the public's trust that contracts would be awarded through a fair and transparent process."

rsnell@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @robertsnellnews