FBI targeted Cleveland mayor

CLEVELAND, July 21 (UPI) -- An FBI affidavit shows former Cleveland Mayor Michael White was a target of an investigation that led to the indictment of a close associate.

White, who decided not to seek re-election and stepped down in January 2002, has not been charged with anything, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported. Nate Gray, a businessman and close friend of White, is awaiting retrial on bribery charges -- along with former City Councilman Joe Jones and Gilbert Jackson, a New Orleans businessman -- after jurors failed to agree on a verdict.

The affidavit was submitted to U.S. District Judge Paul Matia in 2002 as part of a wiretap application.

The FBI said it expected to prove from the wiretap that Cleveland officials were taking bribes for security and construction contracts at an airport and wireless technology contracts in schools; that Detroit and Washington officials were also taking payoffs for school contracts; and that Honeywell International Inc. was paying bribes to officials in Cleveland, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Houston and Denver.