NORFOLK — Norfolk City Treasurer Anthony L. Burfoot was sentenced to six years in prison Monday for public corruption and perjury.
Burfoot – who has also served as city councilman and vice mayor in Norfolk – was convicted by a federal jury on Dec. 9 of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, honest services wire fraud, conspiracy to obtain property under color of official right, obtaining property under color of official right and perjury.
From 2005 to 2011, Burfoot, 48, took bribes from local developers in the form of cash, free home renovations, a Mercedes sedan, new kitchen appliances and a $25,000 payment to the mother of his children, according to documents filed in the Eastern District Court of Virginia.
In exchange, Burfoot authorized city fund spending and ordinances to benefit the developers, including the promise to get city council votes for the approval of a strip club in Norfolk that would have been owned by local developer Thomas Arney, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.
Burfoot was also bribed by local developer Ronald Boone, who gave him cash, gifts and access to a beach house in exchange for political favors, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Burfoot also had inappropriate relationships with managers of Tivest Development. The managers paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars to vote for city ordinances that financially benefited the company.
Burfoot also lied under oath by claiming in a federal trial that he never accepted or asked for bribes in exchange for political action, the release states.
“Burfoot’s well-publicized criminal exploits have eroded public confidence in how their tax dollars are used and managed, and his selfish actions feed the worst perceptions about public employees, of whom the vast majority perform their duties selflessly and admirably,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Dana J. Boente wrote in a news release.
Mayfield can be reached at [email protected].
