DETROIT, May 4 (UPI) -- Detroit political consultant Sam Riddle rejected a plea deal because he is innocent of threatening his former girlfriend, his lawyer said.
"When a man is innocent of what he is charged, an offer isn't even a consideration," Mark Mandell, Riddle's lawyer, said Monday.
Riddle rejected a deal in which he would have pleaded guilty to assault in exchange for dismissal of a charge of possessing a firearm in commission of a felony, the Detroit News reported Tuesday.
Former state Rep. Mary Waters alleges Riddle pulled a shotgun on her a few days before Christmas when she found him in bed with another woman. If convicted, Riddle faces a two-year sentence.
Waters and Riddle also are co-defendants in a pending corruption trial involving alleged bribes paid to a Southfield councilman.
Riddle is to be retried in federal court on bribery charges related to allegations he worked with ex-Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers to take money from businesses wanting contacts with the city.
Conyers pleaded guilty to related charges, but is appealing her plea and sentence.
