Judge unseals ex-Mayor Tyler testimonials
See who wrote the 65 letters and what they said in the bribery case
MUNCIE — Doctors, lawyers, pastors, a school board member, two elected officials, lobbyists, mothers of kids with autism, Blacks, whites, Christians, Muslims, Democrats, Republicans and of course firefighters were among those who urged a federal judge to show leniency toward ex-Mayor Dennis Tyler.
In November, Tyler was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison for his plea of guilty to theft of government funds — accepting $5,000 in cash in exchange for steering work to a local contractor who charged more than an honest competitor.
During the Nov. 10 sentencing hearing in Indianapolis, U.S. District Court Judge James R. Sweeney II said that most of Tyler’s history was “good and laudatory.” He cited 65 character-reference letters the court had received on Tyler’s behalf.
When I asked in January to inspect the letters, Doria Lynch, public information officer for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, said via email, “The letters you reference are classified as ‘case participant only’ by the court and are not accessible for viewing by the general public.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office also denied access to the letters. “Those kinds of materials are sealed by court order pursuant to the rules of court in this district,” spokesman Steve Whitaker said.
Since then, however, the judge reversed his decision, recently issuing an order unsealing the documents. He also unsealed the sentencing memorandum filed by Tyler, which discloses information about the abusive household in which Tyler grew up. The former mayor, for instance, once stabbed his stepfather to stop him from beating his mother, which saved his mother but cost Tyler a retaliatory beating.
Tyler’s lawyers had filed the letters of support and the sentencing memorandum under seal.
However, in doing so, they “did not comply with Local Criminal Rule 49.1-2, which outlines the requirements for filing documents under seal,” Sweeney wrote in an order on Feb. 23. “The Court alerted Tyler to this issue and warned that failure to comply with the Rule would result in unsealing of the documents, but the Court has received no communication from Tyler. Therefore, the Clerk is directed to unseal the documents … “
In the testimonials, many of Tyler’s defenders called his criminal conduct a mistake that was far outweighed by all of the good things he did during an otherwise exemplary life of public service and community service, such as putting his life on the line as a firefighter for 42 years.
Others downplayed or dismissed the bribery case.
“It is truly a tragedy that this legacy has been tarnished over a $5,000 campaign donation,” wrote attorney and former county prosecutor Mark McKinney, in seeking a “merciful and mitigated sentence.”
Tyler’s personal physician wrote, “I do not believe that he did anything wrong, a lot of people do not as well. This is completely out of character for him. I wonder if it is politically motivated.”
Another supporter told the judge that “whatever happened isn’t as black and white as thievery,” adding that Tyler was “scared” and pleading guilty seemed like his best alternative.
But most of the letters focused on Tyler’s contributions, which, “if anyone is keeping score, are 1,000 times greater than his mistakes, which everyone makes,” one author said.
The former mayor can’t continue to help people, which he has made a career of, if he’s in prison, wrote one person, who recommended a sentence of community service.
As a mayor, firefighter, state representative, county Democratic Party chairman and a citizen working behind the scenes, Tyler championed or sponsored Easter Egg hunts, bicycle giveaways, Scouts, veterans, Wounded Warriors, the homeless, schools, Black Expo, MLK events, disabled kids and their families, faith communities, union workers, abused women, community centers, free breakfasts for low-income kids during the summer, families of fallen firefighters, disabled firefighters, the elderly and many others, according to the letters.
“It is my hope that Judge Sweeney would allow mercy to Dennis Tyler to spend his remaining days on this earth with his loving family,” wrote Yvonne Thompson, director of the Muncie Human Rights Commission. “Dennis Tyler, the public servant, sacrificed time from his family to make sure the families of Muncie, IN, were taken care of. Please allow the Tyler family the chance to spend precious time with him.”
Thompson and Tyler, 79, attended the same Union Missionary Baptist Church.
Others reported that Tyler didn’t just talk the talk; he walked the walk, by not just speaking but also walking in bad weather at annual Walk a Mile in My Shoes events to raise money for the hungry, the homeless and the addicted, for example.
His mayoral accomplishments included downtown revitalization projects like the new Courtyard by Marriott that also houses a job training center for adults with disabilities; making the city more bicycle friendly with the addition of bike lanes (Tyler was an avid cyclist); reopening fire stations closed by a previous administration; making city hall and fire stations available to the public in extreme cold and hot weather; and his controversial move to add EMS to the services provided by the city fire department.
Supporters described the former mayor as a uniter; a “ball of energy;” a family man devoted to his grandchildren, one of whom was autistic; kind; down to earth; a man of faith; and a person who freely gave of his time when someone needed help, regardless of social status.
Chandler Thompson, the basketball coach at Central High School, wrote that Tyler often made a difference without being noticed.
Tyler was a father figure to some, including one man from a single-parent household who Tyler — known as “Mr. T” — helped keep on a straight and narrow path.
The judge read in one letter about Tyler once arriving an hour late to a meeting because he had stopped to help two brothers, ages 8 and 10, who were stranded after hours at the bus stop.
A former city attorney related that a woman experiencing a mental health crisis alarmed folks at city hall when she showed up with a rifle, which she turned over to the mayor.
Some of his proponents said the mayor could be too kind, too nice, and that some people would take advantage of him. “He trusted those that he put in these positions to do things right,” one wrote. “His trust was misplaced.”
Speaking of trust.
Tyler was one of nine defendants charged in connection with a federal investigation of “systemic corruption” that had extended throughout municipal public works projects in Muncie. The investigation was named “Operation Public Trust” by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Among those already convicted is Craig Nichols, who served as Tyler’s building commissioner. Nichols is the son of Tyler confidant Phil Nichols, who, like Tyler, is a former Democratic chairman and a former firefighter.
Craig Nichols used sham bidding practices and submitted fraudulent invoices to steer work to his own companies, and then billed the city more than $376,000 for work his company either never performed or performed at inflated prices.
It has been alleged that Tyler turned a blind eye to what happened.
Phil Nichols is awaiting trial. Though he had no official leadership position or title within the local Democratic Party after the late 1990s, Nichols kept a private office at party headquarters and continued to exert influence and control over multiple official acts performed by certain city officials, according to his indictment.
Others who wrote testimonials on Tyler’s behalf included Brittany Bales, a former school teacher and current member of the board of trustees at Muncie Community Schools; the president of the Professional Firefighters Union of Indiana; Center Township Trustee Kay Walker and her mother, Delaware County Councilwoman Mary Chambers; retired Muncie Visitors Bureau Director Jim Mansfield; former Ball State University executive John Fallon, who also served on the Muncie Redevelopment Commission and at Sustainable Muncie; Dr. Mohammad S. Bahrami, former president of the Islamic Center of Muncie; and Jack, Megan and John Quirk, city hall’s law firm when Tyler was mayor. Another member of the firm, Ana Quirk Hunter, the current chair of the local Democratic organization, did not submit a letter for Tyler.
Based on his childhood, Tyler’s contribution to the community could have been far less, his lawyers told the judge in their sentencing memorandum.
Tyler never knew his biological father and grew up in a “very abusive” household. The abuses included beatings of family members by Tyler’s stepfather, who once threw Tyler’s toddler brother across the room, after which the family escaped when the stepfather passed out.
Tyler moved from relative to relative, attended many different schools and lived in government housing before his mother met a new man who brought stability to the family and became a positive influence on Tyler.
As a teenager working at a bowling alley, Tyler met firefighters who took him under their wing. He became a firefighter himself at age 21, rising to the rank of captain and leader of the firefighters union.
Tyler’s version of his crime is that his office instructed the Board of Public Works and Safety to award a $108,975 demolition contract to RCM Excavating, a local firm, and to ignore a lower bidder. That was in May of 2015.
Later that year, Tracy Barton — a city sanitary district sewer superintendent and the son of a former longtime Democratic city councilwoman and precinct committeewoman — gave Tyler $5,000 in cash as a reward for ensuring that RCM got the contract.
It’s more accurate to characterize the “bribe” as a “gratuity” because it was “unsolicited” and given after the fact, said Tyler’s lawyers, who called Barton a co-conspirator in a much larger bribery and kickback scheme. Barton cooperated with federal investigators and has pleaded guilty but not been sentenced.
Tyler sought to award public works projects to local contractors, especially those with union affiliations, his attorneys said.
He “let his personal guard down” when he accepted the $5,000, which was likely used as petty cash for Tyler’s office and home, the attorneys said, citing a lack of evidence that Tyler was greedy. There were no fancy cars or trips or gambling addiction or mistress to hide.
The former mayor reportedly lives on a fixed income with very few discretionary funds at his disposal.
The shame that Tyler’s offense has brought him is far worse than any sentence could be, the lawyers said, noting that almost everyone in town knows him, and now almost everyone knows of his crime. Unfortunately, they went on, that shame has trickled down to his children and grandchildren.
After the sentencing, acting U.S. Attorney John E. Childress said, “Mr. Tyler’s greed caught up with him and he will now be held accountable. The citizens of Muncie and the hard-working city employees deserved better out of their mayor, and hopefully this sentence will help restore some public trust and confidence in the government that serves them.”
In total, the city of Muncie and the Muncie Sanitary District awarded the excavation contractor hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts for city work in connection with kickbacks paid to Tyler and Barton, including work associated with the Nebo Commons commercial development and the construction of a large sporting goods store, federal prosecutors said.
Also, Tyler received a personal benefit from a different city contractor in early 2015. The contractor performed tree removal work at Tyler’s personal property worth about $1,800, with the expectation that doing so would keep the contractor on a list of eligible bidders for city work, prosecutors went on. In addition, Tyler used his position to try to conceal efforts by others to defraud the city of Muncie.
Previously, in Greater Muncie:
Judge keeps ex-Mayor Tyler’s testimonials secret
He was at most the most dishonest person while in office. He was money hungry, had a gambling habit and didn’t know how to control finances. He’s behind everyone that has been indicted due to his instructions to get involved with money laundering and accepting kickbacks. Just because he went to church doesn’t make him a saint. He joined to get support for the African American community. I know how it worked, if you don’t do as I say, you’re out! He’s just another crooked politician who got caught up!
Do you have a copy of the sentencing memorandum to which these letters were Exhibits?