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DallasArena.com Your alternative to The Dallas Managed News Todd Bensman & Robert Riggs
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08/11/05 FIGURE IN FBI CITY HALL INVESTIGATION ALLEGEDLY SIPHONED FED DOLLARS TO TRENDY DALLAS NIGHCLUB Aug 11, 2005 5:18 pm US/Central By Todd Bensman and Robert Riggs, The Investigators, CBS-11 News As the Dallas City Council last November prepared to vote on a controversial $22 million affordable housing project, a group of citizens gathered behind the public podium for a chance to speak in favor of it. Among the pastors, contractors and civil rights activists was Ron Ferguson, a convicted drug felon who ran a minority-owned construction company. Speaking frankly, Ferguson told the council he had a selfish interest in lobbying for the project, known as the Homes of Pecan Grove. Ferguson testified that he was in line for some major contracting work if it was approved, which he said the council should do because the developer was willing cut in the black business community. "I think that being chosen as one of the contractors to work on that project says that he's interested in not just developing the project but also working with the community," Ferguson told the council. The council narrowly approved the project in a split vote that fall day, with Council member Don Hill leading the charge. Now, Ferguson is among a host of small minority businessmen, developers, Council member James Fantroy, Council member Hill and Hill's appointed Plan Commission member who have since come under FBI scrutiny as part of a wide-ranging corruption investigation of the city?s affordable housing dealings. Almost nothing was known about Ferguson until CBS-11 first reported last month that Ferguson was a figure in the FBI?s investigation for allegedly attending a taped FBI bribery attempt of Hill with two other men. But a CBS-11 News investigation has since uncovered much more about Ferguson in addition to the alleged bribery meeting he attended, including numerous complaints of business fraud, the use of violence and intimidation to get his way, and a lengthy criminal record that includes a drug conviction. Ferguson is known to refer to himself as the "Suge Knight" of Dallas construction, a reference to a rap music producer who founded Death Row records and was known for violent intimidation of artists. One fraud complaint to the Dallas Police Department accuses Ferguson of siphoning off federal money from a contract job to furnish the interior of a trendy Dallas nightclub known as The Drama Room, which is owned by close associates. ?He takes his persona as a weapon almost,? said one former business associate who claims he was victimized by Ferguson and who requested anonymity for fear of physical retribution. ?He uses it to intimidate and to push people into doing what he wants them to do.? Ferguson is one of three men that Dallas business icon Comer Cottrell says approached him several months ago and asked him to help bribe Dallas City Councilman Don Hill to get a permit for a southern housing project. Cottrell, who says he immediately turned down the offer, was to have been paid part of the bribe. CBS-11 has reported that the meeting was a taped FBI set up and that one of the men Ferguson arrived with was working as a confidential informant for the bureau. That man's name, Cottrell has said, was Bill Fisher, the developer of Pecan Grove. Ferguson could not be reached for comment at his home or offices. Paul Lockman, an attorney for Ferguson, confirmed that Ferguson was present in Cottrell's office for a meeting but said, "Nothing in the meeting should be construed that anybody was trying to bribe Cottrell." He said Ferguson at one point left the meeting for a bathroom break. Lockman said his client's role for Fisher was to introduce him to people with political influence at City Hall. "The system needs to be cleaned up so honest guys like Ron Ferguson can go out and get a contract without illegal activity," Lockman said. Don Hill told CBS-11 he could not talk about the attem pted bribery meeting. ?I would love to talk about it, that?s going to be one of the areas that?s part of this investigation so I really don?t want to have any comment on that,? he said. Bill Fisher, Pecan Grove?s developer and owner of Odyssey Residential Holdings, refused to deny that he assisted the FBI in the bribery attempt at Cottrell?s office, although Cottrell told CBS-11 News that Fisher did. The third man who arrived with Fisher and Ferguson, and who helped set up the meeting, was former San Francisco 49ers player Kevin Dean, now a Dallas cement contractor who also was to have received contract work on Pecan Grove. Ferguson has served as a managing partner of a construction company called TNL Construction. His two partners at TNL Construction are Lupe Herrera and Tommy Hoang, who own a trendy Knox Henderson area night club called The Drama Room. Photos published on D Magazine's "D Scene" web site, which features image galleries of nightclub life in Dallas, show smiling Herrera and Hoang embracing scantily clad female revelers, including a former Playboy Playmate. CBS-11 has learned that a December 2004 fraud complaint filed with the Dallas Police Department accuses Ferguson of siphoning off materials and labor from a federal construction project to finish the new interior for the Drama Room last year. A former manager of The Drama Room confirmed to CBS-11 that Ferguson's construction crew finished out the interior. Ferguson's attorney says he has no financial interest in the club and said the untrue fraud allegations arose from a business dispute. ?He would use people on the payroll that were assigned to federal jobs to actually do the construction at other places,? the former business associate told CBS-11. TNL Construction has offices in Desoto, in a run-down single story office complex. TNL's mailing address there was once the same mailing address for a company called Fantroy Communications Networking, Inc, which is linked to Dallas City Council member Jam es Fantroy. Fantroy and a security services company he owns also are key subjects of the FBI investigation. In a more recent filing, Fantroy Communications Networking lists as its offices Fantroy's security company, JL Security and Investigators. Fantroy's security company is now at a different location, where it was raided by the FBI in June as part of the bureau's corruption investigation. Council member Fantroy recused himself from last November's Pecan Grove vote, citing a conflict of interest arising from security contracts he had with the developer, Fisher. In addition to TNL's Desoto location, the company has run its business out of the offices of a computer company in Carrollton. That company is Cyberdyne Systems, owned by Tommy Hoang?s family and includes the city of Dallas and Dallas County among its clients. Recently, TNL had its name removed from Cyberdyne?s office door. Tommy Hoang and Lupe Hererra could not be located for comment and did not return calls. Steve Brunk, vice president of operations for Cyberdyne Systems, indicated that Hoang no longer worked for Cyberdyne. CBS-11?s Robert Riggs asked Brunk: ?He?s your vice president of sales here at Cyberdyne?? Brunk: ?He was, that is correct." Riggs: ?Was? What happened?? Brunk: ?Well, I?m not at liberty to discuss that.? Prior to his work for TNL Construction, Ferguson was in the TV, cable and telephone wiring business. Tricom Communication Services went bankrupt about two years ago. Tricom did work on affordable housing projects but was terminated when it was discovered that Ferguson was operating with a bogus certificate of insurance. To comment on this story, email: Todd Bensman or Robert Riggs |
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