Former Atlanta contractor testifies bribery scheme was Bickers' idea

A former Atlanta city contractor testified that a political operative who worked in City Hall reached out to him after his business was battered by the Great Recession to talk about a sidewalk contract — and a bribe.

Mitzi Bickers, who helped former Mayor Kasim Reed win election and then worked as his director of human services, faces charges including bribery. Her federal trial, now in its second week, is the first in a long-running investigation into corruption at City Hall during Reed’s administration.

Prosecutors allege Bickers used her influence to direct roughly $17 million in city work to contractors Elvin “E.R.” Mitchell Jr. and Charles P. Richards Jr. in exchange for about $2 million in bribes. Both men pleaded guilty in 2017 to conspiring to pay bribes, were sentenced to prison and are witnesses for the government against Bickers.