{"id":10683,"date":"2015-04-03T11:25:16","date_gmt":"2015-04-03T18:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=10683"},"modified":"2015-04-03T11:31:23","modified_gmt":"2015-04-03T18:31:23","slug":"the-owner-of-lulu-billiards-pleads-guilty-to-bribing-a-zoning-appeals-official","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=10683","title":{"rendered":"The Owner of LuLu Billiards Pleads Guilty to Bribing a Zoning Appeals Official"},"content":{"rendered":"

ATLANTA<\/strong>\u2014The owner of LuLu Billiards wanted to operate as a nightclub with a dance floor and to make sure this happened, he bribed an official with the county’s zoning board of appeals in DeKalb County.<\/p>\n

The FBI investigated.<\/p>\n

Lulu’s owner Ismail Sirdah, <\/strong>53,\u00a0<\/strong>was charged and so was zoning board member, Jeremy “Jerry” Clark.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Feb. 19, Clark, 42, of Lithonia, Georgia, plead guilty to accepting a bribe from Sirdah. \u00a0Clark is scheduled to be sentenced on April 30.<\/p>\n

Sirdah <\/strong>who\u00a0<\/strong>is the owner and CEO of\u00a02841 Investments, Inc.,<\/strong> which does business as LuLu Billiards, plead guilty to bribing Clark, a DeKalb County Zoning Board of Appeals, officials said. The bribe was to make sure Sirdah could\u00a0operate as a nightclub and be able to keep his dance floor at his late-night billiard hall, \u00a0authorities announced Thursday.<\/p>\n

Sirdah is scheduled to be sentenced in June, officials said.<\/p>\n

In return for Clark’s vote, Sirdah paid him about $2000 in cash and donated about $1,500 to a non-profit interest with which Clark was involved.<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

LuLu Billiards is a pool hall and bar located in Tucker, DeKalb County, Georgia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the FBI\u2019s focus in public corruption matters is primarily with that of the public official, it can readily shift to those individuals who attempt to corrupt those officials,” said\u00a0J. Britt Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Adding, “That was seen in this case involving Mr. Sirdah, an area business owner, who purchased the vote of a DeKalb County Zoning Board member in a county action that impacted his business. This guilty plea of Mr. Sirdah\u2019s, for those criminal actions, should serve as a reminder that the FBI will not tolerate efforts to unduly and illegally influence government officials in this manner.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As a general matter, officials stated that the ordinance required that new businesses get a Special Land Use Permit if they wanted to operate either as a late-night establishment or as a nightclub.<\/p>\n

The zoning ordinance provided an exception to the new rule for pre-existing late-night establishments and nightclubs, which allowed those businesses to be grandfathered in under the 2008 zoning ordinance change, officials stated.<\/p>\n

Here are the facts and circumstances surrounding this case, according to officials:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Based on the new zoning ordinance, in November 2011, the DeKalb County Department of Planning and Sustainability informed LuLu Billiards in writing that it was grandfathered in only as a late-night business\u2014and thus could neither operate as a nightclub nor have a dance floor.<\/li>\n
  • Notwithstanding the notice, Lulu Billiards operated as a nightclub and possessed a dance floor.<\/li>\n
  • In September 2012, the Department of Planning and Sustainability issued a warning to Sirdah through LuLu Billiards for operating as a nightclub with a dance floor.<\/li>\n
  • In the warning, Sirdah was again advised that under the new zoning ordinance that LuLu Billiards could not operate as a nightclub or have a dance floor without a Special Land Use Permit.<\/li>\n
  • Sirdah responded that LuLu Billiards had operated as a nightclub prior to the 2008 zoning ordinance\u2014and as a result, should be grandfathered in as a nightclub under the new zoning rule.<\/li>\n
  • Sirdah appealed not being able to operate LuLu Billiards as a nightclub to the Zoning Board of Appeals.<\/li>\n
  • The Zoning Board of Appeals hears and decides zoning appeals when a property owner alleges that a county official committed a zoning error.<\/li>\n
  • Prior to the hearing on the appeal, Sirdah met with Clark. During those meetings, Sirdah made it clear to Clark, that if the Zoning Board of Appeals approved Sirdah\u2019s petition to operate as a nightclub, Clark would be rewarded.<\/li>\n
  • In November 2012, the Zoning Board of Appeals approved Sirdah\u2019s request to operate as a nightclub. Clark voted in favor of LuLu Billiards being able to operate as a nightclub.<\/li>\n
  • <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    ATLANTA\u2014The owner of LuLu Billiards wanted to operate as a nightclub with a dance floor and to make sure this happened, he bribed an official with the county’s zoning board of appeals…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,16,3],"tags":[307],"class_list":["post-10683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fbi","category-home-main-slider","category-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-bribery"],"yoast_head":"\nOwner of LuLu Billiards Pleads Guilty to Bribery<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The owner of LuLu Billiards plead guilty to bribing an official to get a nightclub permit\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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