Detroit City Wire

A real estate developer has been sentenced to one year and a day in prison for bribing the former Mayor of Taylor, Richard Sollars. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison, alongside Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Shady Awad, aged 44 from Allen Park, received his sentence from United States District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith. Court documents reveal that between 2016 and 2018, Awad provided various bribes to then-mayor Sollars. These included cash payments, home improvements at Sollars’ residences, appliances, and other valuable items. Additionally, Awad charged over $19,000 to his credit cards and converted these charges into cash for Sollars.

In total, Awad's bribes amounted to goods and services valued at $85,011.73. In return for these bribes, he was allowed to acquire tax-foreclosed properties through the City of Taylor’s Right of First Refusal (ROFR) program. This program was intended to enable Taylor to redevelop tax-foreclosed properties acquired from Wayne County.

“Mr. Awad’s conviction and sentence should send a strong message that not only will public officials who accept bribes be brought to justice by my office but also those who seek to gain an advantage by bribing public officials will face serious consequences as well,” stated U.S. Attorney Ison.

Cheyvoryea Gibson commented on the case saying: “Mr. Awad and the former Mayor of Taylor unlawfully corrupted the City of Taylor’s real estate redevelopment program meant to benefit the city and its residents for their own private gain.” He further emphasized that “FBI Michigan’s Detroit Area Corruption Task Force remains committed to rigorously investigating public corruption.”

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with prosecution led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frances Carlson and Robert Moran.