Conyers aide subpoenaed in $47-million Synagro probe

Conyers aide subpoenaed in $47-million Synagro probe By DAN CORTEZ FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

A Detroit attorney confirmed today that a former aide to Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers received a subpoena Friday as part of the ongoing federal investigation into corruption at City Hall.

Michelle Yancy, who previously worked for Conyers, received the subpoena Friday, according to her attorney, Mark Kriger.

It’s expected that Yancy will be asked questions related to the corruption probe that the Free Press first revealed in June. Kriger, who said he has not met with Yancy or seen the subpoena, spoke with federal investigators and was told that his client is not a target of the investigation.

“She’s simply a witness,” Kriger said today.

The Free Press reported last year that federal authorities were investigating a $47-million sludge disposal contract for Houston-based waste management company Synagro Technologies, and contracts at Cobo Center. The investigation partly focused on Conyers, who was one of five council members who supported the Synagro contract in November 2007. Conyers initially was critical of the Synagro contract, but eventually voted for it. She said that the change in position was the result of learning new information and the need to make tough choices.

The Free Press reported in July that the investigation extends beyond several council members to council staffers, city departmental personnel and people outside government - with several people caught on FBI surveillance audio and videotape accepting "payoffs" from James Rosendall, a Synagro official. He remains under federal investigation.

Conyers, who left Wednesday for a weeklong stay in Israel to study the Arab-Israeli conflict as part of the American Israel Education Foundation’s African-American Leadership Mission, has said she does not fear the federal investigation.