Atlanta contractor accused of bribery was threatened

The suspect charged this week in a City Hall bribery case has been the target of threats. The U.S. Attorney has charged construction company CEO, E.R. Mitchell  with paying more than a million dollars in bribes to get construction contracts with the City of Atlanta.

But the Fox 5 I-Team says, during the F-B-I investigation, someone went to Mitchell's home to send him a message to keep quiet.

The police report reads like the script from a gangster movie. Dead rats scattered around. A brick thrown through a window carrying an ominous message.

Someone clearly wanted to send the CEO of Mitchell construction Company a message. Around 5:45 AM on September 11, 2015  a block crashed through the front window of his SW Atlanta home. The message clear - "ER, Keep your mouth shut, shut up."  And there was more intimidation. Dead rats left on the front porch of his home and one on the hood of his truck.

William Perry of Georgia Ethics Watchdogs says someone's clearly worried about what Mitchell might say to the FBI and case the threats "stunning."

And according to the police report from this incident, Mitchell told responding officers "he had a federal case open and that it was related."

Mitchell said he was "going to contact the FBI and that they were going to investigate the incident" But he refused to give any details or provide the name of the person who committed the crime.
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William Perry, says  he hopes the investigation digs deep into city hall. "I hope he was wearing wires or talking to people or doing something where we can figure more of this out and see where the charges go," Perry said.

The criminal charge says E.R. Mitchell Jr. paid over a million dollars in bribes from 2010 to 2015 to an individual to secure city contracts.

The criminal charge alleges, in early 2011, ER Mitchell withdrew $270 thousand dollars in cash for payments to an individual to get city construction contracts. And, 3 years later withdrew $260,000 in cash to pay an individual for another contract.

Federal authorities haven't said who accepted the bribes but have also said Mitchell is expected to plead guilty in the near future.