Taxicab Defendants Say They Were Clueless About Bribes

Photo by Sanjay Suchak

If you've been following the large-scale FBI investigation into attempts to bribe public officials associated with the D.C. taxicab industry, you've got to read Jason Cherkis's cover story this week in the Washington City Paper. Cherkis spent some time with a few of the 30+ men named in the indictment, and found that federal prosecutors may well be overreaching in their attempts to prosecute some of these guys.

One of the defendants, a man who had been working as a parking lot attendant, tells a story of being approached by alleged ringleader Yitbarek Syume and his partners. They offered him a job as a taxicab driver, a huge opportunity. And they way he tells it, Syume, who is a well known business man and radio host in the local Ethiopian community, was far from forthcoming about what was really going on.

The lot attendant was never told that this process was a highly expedited way of obtaining a taxicab license. He was not briefed on the usual procedure—that is, completing a 60-hour course at the University of the District of Columbia and passing the cab commission’s hack test.

The lot attendant was instructed by Syume’s partner to show up at Syume’s small mechanic shop on 5th Street NE in Eckington to go through the improvised licensing process. There, Syume explained how his Jet cab company worked. The attendant showed off his son, whom he was taking care of that day. “I show him. I say thank you,” the attendant recalls. “I don’t have words at that time. He’s a big guy. He’s very, very rich for my mind.”

Not exactly the image of a corrupt, scheming cab driver the indictment first brought to mind. Here's a guy who got offered a chance at a better life, and, though perhaps naively, just never realized anything illegal was going on.

Do make sure to read the whole thing.