Former Mayor of Melissa Sentenced in Bribery Scheme

SHERMAN, TX—Two Collin County, Texas men, including the former mayor of the city of Melissa, have been sentenced to federal prison in connection with a bribery scheme in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales.

David E. Dorman, 66, of Melissa, Texas, pleaded guilty on January 7, 2013, to mail fraud and was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release today by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone. Dorman was also ordered to submit to forfeiture of $30,000.

John Christie, 65, of Frisco, Texas, pleaded guilty on January 4, 2013, to misprision of a felony and was sentenced to six months in federal prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release, today by Judge Crone. Christie was also ordered to relinquish his real estate license for the duration of his sentence and term of supervised release and was fined $5,000.

According to information presented in court, in 2007, Dorman, then mayor of the city of Melissa, solicited a $70,000 bribe from Christie in exchange for arranging for the city of Melissa to annex a portion of land from the city of McKinney, Texas, in order for Christie to develop and sell the land to potential customers. Based on a letter from Dorman, the cities of Melissa and McKinney approved the annexation, and, in exchange, Christie made one $10,000 cash payment and two $10,000 payments by check to Dorman. The men were initially named in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on September 12, 2012.

“Public officials are held to the highest standard of conduct and owe their communities honest, faithful service,” said U.S. Attorney Bales. “David Dorman breached the trust that he held, and we hold him, as we would hold any corrupt public official, fully accountable for his crime.”

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shamoil T. Shipchandler.