Conyers seen praising suspect pawn shop

DETROIT, June 24 (UPI) -- Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers used a regulatory meeting to defend a pawn shop from which she allegedly received jewelry, a video recording indicates.

Quoting unnamed people familiar with a City Hall corruption investigation, The Detroit News said Conyers is being investigated for claims she received $40,000 in jewelry from Thomas LaBret of Zeidman's Jewelry and Loan. A video recording of a 2007 meeting involving her, police officials and others showed Conyers cautioning against further regulation of Detroit's pawn shops and praising Zeidman's, the newspaper reported Wednesday.

The News said the meeting had been called to discuss a proposal by Councilman Kwame Kenyatta that would have required pawn shops return items free of charge if victims could prove the goods were stolen.

"I go there quite a bit," Conyers said of Zeidman's in the video obtained by the News. "I never see him doing anything wrong. He is doing his part. I don't know if the other pawn shops are doing their part. But he is doing the part he is supposed to do, required by law."

The newspaper said the proposed pawn shop ordinance stalled for unclear reasons.