It’s now up to jurors to decide whether a political operative who worked in Atlanta City Hall is guilty of receiving bribes and then trying to cover it up.
Mitzi Bickers helped former Mayor Kasim Reed win election and then worked as his director of human services. Closing arguments were held Tuesday, the ninth day of her trial on federal charges including bribery. While others have already pleaded guilty in the long-running corruption investigation, Bickers is the first to stand trial.
Prosecutors used their closing argument to portray Bickers as a mastermind who used her influence to direct about $17 million in contracts to former city contractors Elvin “E.R.” Mitchell Jr. and Charles P. Richards Jr. in exchange for about $2 million in bribes, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
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