Patrick Cannon, the mayor of Charlotte, was arrested by FBI agents Wednesday for alleged violations of federal public corruption laws after a four-year investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte announced. Cannon resigned as mayor Wednesday night.
Cannon was charged with theft and bribery after an FBI sting operation, Anne Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, told the Charlotte Observer.
Authorities accuse Cannon of taking bribes from undercover FBI agents five times, the Observer reports. In the most recent incident, on Feb. 21, Cannon allegedly took $20,000 in cash to the mayor’s office.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Cannon is suspected of “soliciting and accepting … over $48,000 in cash, airline tickets, a hotel room, and the use of a luxury apartment in exchange for the use of his official position.”
An FBI affidavit also alleges that in July 2013, Cannon accepted $6,000 in cash and an all-expense-paid trip to Las Vegas for him and his wife.
Cannon has been released on an undisclosed bond, pending indictment, the Observer reports.
