A federal judge has reduced the prison sentence of Mitzi Bickers, a former official in Atlanta, by two years after vacating four wire fraud convictions associated with a bribery scheme that funneled millions of dollars in city contracts to preferred vendors.
Bickers, who previously served as the Director of Human Services under former Mayor Kasim Reed, was resentenced to 12 years in prison following the dismissal of the wire fraud charges. The ruling emerged from a reevaluation of her case tied to three counts of money laundering, one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, and one count of filing a false tax return.
At 57 years of age, Bickers was the first individual to go to trial in the federal corruption investigation unfolding at Atlanta City Hall, receiving the longest sentence of any defendant in the case. Prosecutors claimed that she accepted approximately $3 million in bribes to assist contractors in securing around $17 million in city work, which included projects such as bridge repairs, snow removal, and sidewalk construction.
Bickers, who was indicted in 2018, was found guilty in 2022 on nine out of 12 charges, which were largely related to bribery and conspiracy, excluding the charges of tampering with an informant. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld her convictions in August 2024, however, it excluded the wire fraud counts that were pivotal to her original conviction, resulting in the case being sent back to district court for resentencing.
Bickers’ controversial tenure as a city official followed her role as a political consultant and former pastor, where she was appointed to her position after aiding Reed in winning the 2009 mayoral election. The prosecution asserted that she utilized bribe money to buy a lakefront home, jet skis, a luxury SUV, and fund international trips.
In issuing the new ruling, U.S. District Judge Steve Jones stated that the initial 14-year sentence could no longer be upheld after prosecutors moved to drop the wire fraud charges, which were critical to the original case. While Bickers’ legal team sought a reduction to 80 months, Judge Jones deemed a 12-year sentence appropriate, considering what he described as ‘very bad’ conduct related to the remaining charges.
Despite the adjustment in sentencing, the judge chose not to modify the restitution amount of $2.9 million that Bickers was ordered to pay following her conviction. She has already served two and a half years in prison, though she continues to appeal her convictions and sentence.
The prosecution continued to emphasize that Bickers has not fully acknowledged the extent of her wrongdoing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Kitchens argued that her actions were not merely technical violations. He remarked, ‘Respectfully, this case was not about undotted Is or uncrossed Ts,’ stressing the deceptive nature of her actions and their damaging impact on the city’s workforce.
To summarize the timeline of Bickers’ legal troubles:
From 2009 to 2013, Bickers allegedly began accepting bribes to steer city contracts while serving as Director of Human Services.
In 2014 and 2015, she faced accusations of attempting to influence public contracts in Jackson, Mississippi, by offering perks to officials, which proved unsuccessful.
In March 2018, Bickers was initially indicted, charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, money laundering, wire fraud, and tax fraud regarding Atlanta city contracts. A superseding indictment in August 2018 added further charges concerning the attempted bribery in Jackson.
Her trial commenced in April 2021, where pivotal witnesses testified about the bribes she received and evidence of her luxury acquisitions with the alleged bribe money was presented by prosecutors.
In March 2022, she was convicted on nine of the 12 charges against her and subsequently sentenced to 14 years of federal imprisonment in September of that same year. Along with her prison sentence, she was ordered to make nearly $3 million in restitution and serve three years of supervised release following her release from incarceration.
In June 2023, federal prosecutors initiated a request to dismiss the four wire fraud counts, leading to the resentencing and subsequent legal developments that have unfolded in her case.
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