Mitzi Bickers trial: City official placed on leave after courtroom allegations

A bombshell from the Atlanta federal courthouse on the first day of the first trial in the Atlanta City Hall corruption case gets underway.

The shocking revelation came in opening statements of the federal trial of Pastor Mitzi Bickers.

Prosecutor Jeff Davis told jurors Bickers paid $30,000 in bribes to a current city official so she could pay off her credit card debt.

That longtime city employee is Cotena Alexander, the deputy commissioner for the Atlanta Department of Transportation and oversees the Office of Transportation Infrastructure Management activities for the city of Atlanta.

The city first learned of the allegations from FOX 5 News when during an inquiry asking for a comment about the allegations. 

The city says it immediately placed Alexander, who has been with the city more than two decades, on adminstrative leave.

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