TAYLOR, Mich. – A former employee and campaign manager for ex-Taylor Mayor Rick Sollars was sentenced for his role in a bribery conspiracy.
Jeffrey Baum, 49, of Allen Park, received 18 months in prison.
Recommended Videos
According to the U.S. Attorney‘s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, Baum was the manager of Taylor’s Community Development Department and was tasked with overseeing the Right of First Refusal (ROFR) program. With this program, the city acquired tax-delinquent homes and selected developers to rehabilitate and then purchase the homes.
Baum accepted bribes from Shady Awad, a real estate developer who was interested in acquiring the ROFR properties.
He also accepted bribes from Hadir Altoon, the owner of Dominick’s Market, who also wanted to obtain these properties.
In his role as treasurer of Sollars' campaign fund, Baum assisted Sollars in stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the fund by giving him the pre-signed blank checks, that he used in a fake catering scheme with Altoon.
Baum also accepted cash campaign donations and instead of putting them in the campaign fund’s account, he gave the funds to Sollars.
He also admitted to stealing between $10,000 and $20,000 in campaign funds for his personal use.
“As the Manager of Community Development for the City of Taylor, Baum had a duty to represent the best interests of the citizens of Taylor,” said U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison. “Instead, he used his position of trust and authority to extort money and other items of value from the contractors he was hired to supervise. Mr. Baum’s conviction and sentence should send a strong message to public employees that placing your own interests above those of the citizens of this district will not be tolerated.”
Sollars was sentenced to 71 months in prison in connection to this scheme.
