When Patrick Kennedy was
elected last November,
he was holding onto a dirty
little secret for three years,
beginning in 2010,
Cannon began meeting with
undercover FBI agents posing
as commercial real estate
developers and investors wanting
to do business in Charlotte.
Patrick Cannon accepts the first
bribe in a South Park condo that the
FBI had wired for pictures and sound.
An FBI operative counts out $12,500,
placing the bills on the table.
In front of cannon. Self.
On February 21st, Kennett accepted
$20,000 in cash inside the mayor's office,
but the most damaging video is
of cannon in the mayor's office,
taking a $20,000 bribe with the undercover
operative promising there would be more.
That would be. Thank.
Appreciate it all right. Never.
On March 26th, Cannon was arrested.
The next day he resigned his mayor.
In June, he pled guilty.
I have acknowledged being guilty of
accepting monies for constituent services.
Something that should never have been
done while serving in elected office,
former Mayor Patrick Cannon's days as
a Freeman could be coming to an end.
Cannon has admitted taking bribes
while he was in office and has
been free on bond since entering
his guilty plea back in June,
NBC Charlotte Rad Berky is here in RAD.
We are now learning that he could
be sentenced as early as next week.
Well, that's right, you know the
probation department has completed
a very long report on Canon.
His background, what he admits he did.
And that report is now in the hands
of the judge, who will actually
sentence the former mayor. Cannon
has already pleaded guilty to
accepting $50,000 in bribes from FBI
agents who cannon believed were real
estate investors who were willing
to pay him for his influence at the
sentencing can and will be given the
chance to speak on his own behalf.
Cannon told Judge Whitney he was
sorry and could feel the pounding
of his own conscience. He said,
I repent and ask God for forgiveness.
But while Judge Whitney said he
believed Canon was really sorry for
taking more than $50,000 in bribes,
it was necessary to send a message
to other politicians.
You know, Canon pled guilty to
corruption charges and he was
sentenced to more than three
years in prison. And doing that,
he's forfeited the right to vote.
But this is a print out of the
public voter information that
shows Patrick D Angelo Cannon
voted last Thursday. Will James
Patrick Cannon could have been
sent right to prison today for
violating the terms of his release?
However, he caught a break
after offering an apology.
I first want to simply apologize to to
this Community as I did to the Court,
and as I did to the government about what
took place in the way of a vote on that day,
October 30th, that was the day whereby
I had went like I would normally go each
and every year with my wife to vote.
I actually heard from my probation officer,
which was around 5:00 o'clock
on that day on Election Day.
To say, hey, did you do that
and I acknowledged yeah I did,
what's the problem?
I mean as a result here we are today.
Cannon
was allowed to go home but
now has to remain there and
wear an electronic monitor
until he goes to prison.
Now since we last saw him at
his sentencing last month,
Cannon appears to have grown a bit
thinner and he has grown a goatee.
But he has not lost any of his charisma.
Today he warmly greeted people
that he knew and said hello.
Perhaps for one of the last
times before he goes to prison
in less than 24 hours,
former Charlotte Mayor Patrick
Cannon will be in prison.
He's expected to turn
himself in by noon tomorrow.
Tonight we've got live team coverage.
The Federal Correctional institution here
in Morgantown looks more like a summer camp.
It is home to more than 1100 inmates.
Tomorrow one of them will be Patrick Cannon.
There are no visible
fences and no barbed wire.
We could clearly see a ball.
Field and volleyball courts.
The facility is about 12 miles
from downtown Morgantown.
That's home to the
University of West Virginia.
It is set back
along a rural Rd.
There are no doubt worst places
that Patrick Cannon could have
been ordered to serve his sentence.
But make no mistake,
that is a prison and his
life is about to change.
And that was the last we saw of anything.
Again, we are off the property.
The prison is not talking to us at all,
not saying anything.
But the Federal Bureau of Prisons
in Washington DC has now confirmed
to us that former Mayor Patrick
Cannon did in fact turn himself
in here about 20 minutes ago
live at the federal institution,
Rad Berky, NBC, Charlotte.