TOLEDO, Ohio — Three former Toledo City Council members pleaded guilty Friday to violating the Hobbs Act, a law regarding bribery and extortion of public officials.
Tyrone Riley, Yvonne Harper and Larry Sykes all face up to 20 years in prison, up to $250,000 in fines and up to three years of supervised release.
Harper pleaded to a single count of conspiracy while Riley and Sykes pleaded guilty to extortion.
Gary Johnson, the fourth former council member charged in the scandal, has a court date scheduled for Jan. 9.
Riley, Harper and Sykes will be sentenced in June 2023.
2018: The FBI began investigating Toledo City Council for soliciting or accepting cash, checks, money orders or other things of value from local business owners in exchange for their votes on council.
Feb. 2020: Riley raised suspicion when a permit for an internet cafe was approved by council despite strong neighborhood opposition.
June 30, 2020: An affadavit filed in U.S. District Court accused the operators of internet cafes across the city of bribing the four council members, as well as local attorney Keith Mitchell. The council members were arrested the same day.
July 1, 2020: Local Attorney Keith Mitchell was accused of funneling bribery payments to Harper totaling thousands of dollars. Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, City Council President Matt Cherry and chairs of both the Lucas County Democratic and Republican parties called on the four council members to resign.
July 3, 2020: The Toledo NAACP -- the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People -- called for fair treatment of the council members and Mitchell, saying the accused are innocent until proven guilty and that they want to ensure there is fairness in the process.
July 7, 2020: At a virtual city council meeting to discuss a mask mandate for the city of Toledo, Cherry asked Riley, Sykes and Johnson to resign and leave the meeting. The three refused and Cherry adjourned the meeting. Harper was not present at this meeting.
July 9, 2020: Kapszukiewicz and Cherry called upon Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to exercise his power under ORC 3.16 to begin the process of suspending the four council members.
July 20, 2020: A grand jury indicted all four council members and Mitchell on counts of conspiracy and extortion.
July 22, 2020: Riley, Harper and Sykes voluntarily suspended their positions on council. Johnson did not.
July 23, 2020: Riley, Harper, Johnson and Mitchell all entered not guilty pleas.
July 27, 2020: Johnson voluntarily suspended his position on council.
Sept. 23, 2020: The four vacant seats on council were filled by Cerssandra McPherson, John Hobbs, Vanice Williams and Tiffany Preston Whitman.
March 29, 2021: Mitchell petitioned a judge to be allowed to move to Atlanta, Georgia, to be with his daughter as he continues hospice care. The judge granted the request a day later, contingent on Mitchell providing daily updates of his whereabouts and medical condition.
April 1, 2021: Mitchell died at 70 years old in Atlanta.
May 24, 2021: Sykes obtained a petition to run for council again.
July 15, 2021: The Lucas County Board of Elections confirmed that Sykes filed the proper paperwork to again run for the seat.
Aug. 13, 2021: Johnson filed a motion in an attempt to have conspiracy charges against him dropped.
Nov. 2, 2021: Sykes loses the general election with the lowest percentage of votes of the 12 candidates on the ballot.
Dec. 6, 2022: Riley, Harper, Sykes and Johnson had a pretrial conference before Judge Jeffrey Helmick at the Toledo federal courthouse as officials discussed final logistics.
Dec. 16, 2022: Riley, Harper and Sykes all pleaded guilty. Riley and Harper's seats were effectively made vacant after the plea, according to the Ohio Attorney General's Office.
Dec. 21 & 23, 2022: Harper's formal resignation from her council seat was received on Dec. 21. Riley's formal resignation from his council seat was received on Dec. 23.
Dec. 28: The city of Toledo announced plans to sue Riley, Harper and Sykes to recover salaries paid to them when they were arrested.
Kapszukiewicz said it's the city's obligation to recover the money the three council members are no longer entitled to after their guilty pleas two weeks prior.
Dec. 29: Hobbs and Williams' seats were vacated after the Ohio AG's office responded to council's request for guidance after Riley and Harper's guilty pleas.
Jan. 3: Johnson’s co-counsel David Klucas was removed from the case because he could possibly be called as a witness during the trial.
Lead counsel Richard Kerger said the defense is asking for the appointment of a co-counsel and for a continuance, meaning a likely extended delay from its expected start date on Jan. 9. Kerger said the trial's start date is now "unknowable."