Ex-Richardson mayor takes the stand to defend herself in bribery retrial

SHERMAN — The mayor at the center of a federal bribery trial told jurors Thursday that it was love, not corruption, that led her to accept gifts from a developer whose controversial project she supported.

Prosecutors say Laura Jordan received sex, $18,000 in cash, $40,000 by check and $24,000 in home renovations from Mark Jordan when she was Richardson mayor in exchange for her advocacy and votes for his project.

They later married.

Laura Jordan said the money and lavish vacation trips he took her on played no role in her decision to support his apartment complex, which nearby residents overwhelmingly opposed.

“They were gifts to me from the man I loved.”

Laura Jordan, 56, and her lover-turned-husband, Mark Jordan, 54, are on trial for the second time for bribery in a federal courthouse about an hour north of Dallas.

Once again, a jury in this small, conservative city heard lurid and sensational details about “flirty emails,” “booty” calls, Ritz Carlton hotel sex, and multiple lies, betrayals and infidelities.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Rattan showed jurors photographs of the “fabulous” and expensive hotels where the couple spent their romantic interludes.

And Rattan repeatedly prompted the ex-mayor to admit that her children were “back in Richardson” during her secret rendezvous at faraway ski lodges and waterfront hotels — in rooms going for as much as $3,400 a night.

Laura Jordan was the defense’s final witness, coming after three weeks of testimony.

Defendants in public corruption trials rarely testify in their own defense. Laura Jordan did not take the stand during her first trial in 2019, which ended in a conviction that was ultimately thrown out.

U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant ordered a new trial after defense attorneys complained that a juror had been improperly influenced.

It stemmed from a court security officer’s remark to try to calm the distraught and undecided juror hours before the verdict.

The juror had been a holdout, and the defense argued she was improperly swayed by the officer — a position strongly opposed by the government.

Prosecutors say Laura Jordan, then Laura Maczka, voted several times on matters concerning Mark Jordan’s Palisades project during her single two-year term as mayor despite her promises to oppose such development and intense opposition from hundreds of residents.

Mark Jordan is accused of influencing her with romance and sex as well as the lavish vacation trips, money and other gifts.

In exchange, prosecutors say, she voted for a controversial zoning change that added more than 1,000 apartments to his mixed-use development.

Her position on the new apartments near Richardson neighborhoods was that the city didn’t need them, “period,” according to her campaign literature. But after meeting the handsome, rich developer, she had a sudden change of mind, prosecutors said.

But in her testimony, Laura Jordan said her actual position on apartments was more nuanced than the campaign fliers. Apartments done correctly, near transit corridors and with retail and green space, was something she’s always supported, she said.

And she said she worked hard to include new homes as a “buffer” between the apartments and existing homeowners.

Laura Jordan blamed the misunderstanding on her former neighbors. They were rude, angry and misinformed about the true nature of the development, she told jurors.

And the residents didn’t want “apartment kids” attending their school, Jordan added.

Rattan asked her about three government witnesses, including the city manager and a former council member, who all testified that they understood her to be opposed to any new apartments in the city.

They were mistaken, Jordan responded.

She acknowledged repeatedly lying about the affair to her former spouse and others and deleting “flirty” emails, but added that it was only to spare her family and the city the pain and embarrassment of a scandal over her infidelity — not to cover up bribes.

“I lied to my husband,” she said, looking at the jury. “I did lie to my family … everybody.”

Calm and composed, the ex-mayor said she was “digging myself deeper and deeper into a hole” but “didn’t know how to stop.”

“I was lying to protect my relationship,” she said. “I wasn’t bribed.”

Both were married to other people during the adulterous affair and at the time of the alleged crimes.

Laura Jordan said she found in Mark “the true life partner I really wanted.”

“I’ve honestly never been happier.”

She also said she lived a comfortable life before meeting Mark Jordan.

“Are you a gold digger?” Dan Cogdell, a lawyer for Mark Jordan, asked her.

“I’m not,” she said.

But prosecutors have suggested their marriage was a sham to cover up their bribery scheme.

Rattan asked her if she thought it ethically sound to stay in hotels paid for by Mark Jordan while voting for his project around the same time.

“I did not see that as a conflict of interest,” said Jordan, who did not disclose the gifts on her public financial statements.

Rattan asked her if there is an exception to the ethics rules “if you’re in love.”

Jordan said there was not.

Jurors this time were allowed to submit questions to witnesses, a rarity in federal trials and something prosecutors opposed.

Mazzant, who allowed the juror questions, read them to Jordan.

One question was why she didn’t step down as mayor after the romantic entanglement began.

She said because it didn’t affect any of her official decisions related to Mark Jordan’s development.

Laura Jordan served as Richardson’s mayor from May 2013 through April 2015 before resigning after winning a second term.

Another thing of value Mark Jordan is accused of giving her in exchange for her help is a job after she left the council — as a leasing agent at his company, Sooner Management.

She did not, however, have a real estate license at the time, prosecutors said.

Laura Jordan told jurors Thursday that she has since obtained a license and continues to work for her husband’s company.

She and Mark Jordan were each found guilty in 2019 of four counts: conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, honest services wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery. Laura Jordan was acquitted on one of the counts against her related to wire fraud.

Closing arguments are scheduled to begin Friday morning.