Back in 2016, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine filed a lawsuit to stop a digital sign company from installing large electronic signs in busy corridors of D.C., referring to the brightly-lit billboards as “illegal construction.”

At the time, the sign company was called Digi Media Communications—a name that has become synonymous with a much larger scandal than the installation of electronic signs without proper permitting. The relationship between Digi and former Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans prompted a federal inquiry and other investigations that ultimately led Evans to resign rather than face expulsion from the D.C. Council. (He’s running for the Ward 2 seat again.) Meanwhile, the company’s CEO, Don MacCord, was sentenced to 30 months in prison in 2019 for conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges related to his Digi Media work. The company has since changed its name to Lumen Eight Media Group LLC.

This week, the D.C. Superior Court resolved the initial lawsuit that brought Digi Media into the public eye in D.C., determining that the exterior signs required a permit, which means that the company was afoul of D.C. laws when it installed them. Racine called it a”major victory for the District” in a statement. (The court had earlier ruled that some of the signs, which were to be hung inside, did not require permits.)

Digi’s multi-million dollar plan was to install dozens of signs in nearly 20 different places throughout D.C.’s downtown and sell advertising space, per court documents. The company did not seek permits for these signs. The company claimed that it believed it didn’t need the permitting because the signs were placed “within a building”—under D.C. code, they argued, signs installed underneath overhangs in the buildings’ facades were exempt from permit requirements.

But the AG’s office contended that they wanted to put up the signs “quickly and stealthily” in the hopes that those signs would be grandfathered into regulation before enforcement actions from the city would require them to be taken down.

Judge Florence Y. Pan called this a “calculated gamble” in her summary judgment, ruling in favor of the District.

The D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs ordered the company to stop installing the signs in August 2016. Racine sued in September, with a complaint outlining that Lumen continued to put up signs despite those stop-work orders.

With the lawsuit from the attorney general’s office underway, Evans proposed a piece of emergency legislation in December 2016 that would have changed the city’s requirements for sign permits. At-large Councilmember Elissa Silverman told DCist at the time that the bill “purely impacts Digi Media” and called it a “dangerous precedent.” Evans ultimately withdrew the legislation, which Silverman believes he did because he didn’t have the votes.

Later, more emerged about Evans’ relationship with leadership at the digital sign company, including perks like an offer for a paid internship for his son, special event invitations, and more, as District Dig reported.

Right before introducing the emergency legislation that would have impacted the sign company, Evans’ consulting company received 200,000 shares of Digi stock, the Washington Post reported. Evans said he returned the shares, which were valued at around $100,000.

Lumen Eight plans to appeal the decision, according to a statement from company director Scott Macintosh. He said that the ruling “has significant implications for any company in any regulated industry in D.C. and should create extreme concern across the business community in D.C. Any business could have the regulatory carpet pulled out from under them at anytime by the executive branch and apparently without any recourse.”

A preliminary injunction issued by the court in November 2016 found that “the District is substantially likely to succeed on the merits of its claim that Digi has engaged in illegal construction,” and ordered the company to cease work on signs it already installed and stop putting up new ones. This new ruling requires the company to take down already-erected signs.

Racine said the ruling “affirmed that the company intentionally did not seek approval from District government for its signs, mischaracterized the nature of its work to avoid scrutiny, and then ignored DCRA’s stop-work orders altogether” in a statement. “Lawbreakers, including companies that regularly contribute money to D.C. politicians, are on notice that the Office of the Attorney General will investigate and prosecute, without fear nor favor, companies and individuals who violate the law.”

Previously:
A Handy Guide To All Of The Investigations Into Jack Evans
Notes On A Scandal: WTF Is Going On With Ward 2’s Jack Evans?
After Nats Park, Another Battle Over Electronic Signs May Come To The Council
Stop Installing Huge LED Billboards Downtown, D.C.’s Attorney General Tells Company

This story has been updated with comment from Lumen Eight director Scott Macintosh.