Former executive pleads guilty to bribing Atlanta officials

ATLANTA (AP) — A former executive for a longtime city of Atlanta vendor has pleaded guilty to paying bribes in exchange for millions of dollars in city contracts and to paying bribes to an official in a neighboring county. Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that besides admitting to paying bribes to Atlanta and DeKalb County officials, Lohrasb “Jeff” Jafari also pleaded guilty to failing to pay more than $1.5 million in taxes. He’s the latest in a string of people, including numerous ex-city officials, to plead guilty or be convicted under a federal probe of corruption surrounding the administration of former Atlanta Mayor Kasim. Reed himself was never charged with wrongdoing.