Indictment details criminal partnership

DETROIT, July 17 (UPI) -- An indictment against a Detroit political consultant details his alleged criminal partnership with Michelle Conyers, wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers.

Conyers pleaded guilty last month to bribery conspiracy and resigned from the Detroit City Council. She faces up to 5 years in prison when she is sentenced.

A grand jury handed up a 27-page indictment Wednesday against the consultant, Samuel Riddle Jr., the Detroit Free Press reported. While Conyers is not named as a defendant, her name appears frequently.

Her lawyer, Steve Fishman, suggested desriptions of her conduct in the indictment are exaggerated.

In one incident, Riddle allegedly picked up a $10,000 payment from a restaurant owner and passed it to Conyers.

"You'd better get my loot, that's all I know," she allegedly told him.

In some cases, bribes were allegedly paid in the form of payments to Riddle for consulting work.