Deadlocked jury labors for verdict in D.C. Council member Trayon White’s bribery trial
by Matt Delaney · The Washington TimesA deadlocked jury returns Monday for a fourth day of deliberations in the federal bribery trial of D.C. Council member Trayon White, who is accused of taking thousands of dollars in exchange for rigging bids for city contracts.
Jurors told U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras on Friday that they have struggled to reach a unanimous verdict in the case that has hung over the Ward 8 Democrat for the past two years.
Judge Contreras urged them to continue working toward an outcome and rejected calls from defense attorneys to declare a mistrial.
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“We have not gotten a decision about the jury today,” Mr. White said Friday in an address to the media after court was adjourned. “Unfortunately or fortunately, but even in that, we’re still being patient.”
Federal prosecutors charged Mr. White with agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for steering government money to his preferred anti-violence groups.
If found guilty, he could be sentenced to up to 15 years in federal prison and forced off the D.C. Council for the second time in as many years.
His council colleagues voted to expel him in February 2025 following their investigation into the bribery allegations, but Mr. White won a special election last summer to reclaim his seat.
City law bars only convicted felons from taking office.
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The evidence against Mr. White, 41, appeared strong when federal prosecutors first filed their case against him in 2024. With the help of FBI informant Allieu Kamara, hidden cameras caught Mr. White accepting $35,000 in cash on four separate occasions between June and August of that year.
Kamara agreed to cooperate with the FBI after he pleaded guilty to a separate loan scheme involving COVID-19 relief funds. Kamara, a former executive director of nonprofit Life Deeds, has not been sentenced.
Kamara testified that Mr. White was supposed to ensure that Life Deeds contracts were renewed by the city. He added that he was to pay Mr. White kickbacks amounting to 3% of the renewed contract.
Mr. White ultimately failed to get the Life Deeds contracts renewed, which emerged as a point of contention during jury deliberations.
On Thursday, jurors asked Judge Contreras if it qualified as bribery if the defendant took the illicit money but never planned on fulfilling his end of the deal.
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Judge Contreras said no — the jurors only had to agree that Mr. White acted corruptly and made himself open to the influence of cash.
Defense attorneys argued that their client did not do anything corrupt and never agreed to do anything that violated the law.
“We’re still here. We’re still standing, and we’re still fighting,” Mr. White said Friday.
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Matt Delaney
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