U.S. Concedes Case Against Flake Is Flawed; Trial Ends

NEW YORK —  The government acknowledged Wednesday that its case against Rep. Floyd H. Flake (D-N.Y.) was crippled beyond repair and dropped its conspiracy and tax evasion charges against him and his wife.

In an unusual move a month into the federal trial, Assistant U.S. Atty. William J. Muller told the judge that the government would be unable to prove the charges because of a ruling earlier this week that greatly reduced the bounds of the case.

U.S. District Judge Eugene H. Nickerson ruled that a ministerial-expenses fund account was a church account, not a personal fund set up by the Flakes to funnel church money into their own pockets, as the prosecution had charged.

Flake, 46, who also is a minister in the Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church, and his wife, Margaret, showed little emotion when Nickerson tossed out the 17-count indictment. But outside the courtroom, Flake tearfully greeted supporters and members of his congregation.

“It feels great,” Flake said, adding that he harbored no bitterness against the prosecutors.

The government’s case was troubled from the first day of testimony. Witness after witness called by the prosecution portrayed the Flakes as a selfless couple dedicated to church and community, not lawbreakers.

A church-sponsored, federally funded apartment complex for the elderly originally planned for 100 units expanded to 300 apartments under Flake’s direction.

The indictment, returned after a two-year investigation, alleged that the Flakes conspired between 1983 and 1986 to embezzle $75,000 from the apartments through a scheme that involved overbilling the complex for transportation costs for residents.

They also were accused of diverting $66,700 more in church funds to their own use, and failing to claim on their personal joint income tax returns $45,000 in Christmas, vacation and other church-paid bonuses.

The Flakes had faced the possibility of 10 years’ imprisonment on the embezzlement charge and five years for conspiracy.

Jurors interviewed after they were dismissed said the panel had been ready to exonerate the Flakes.

“I do believe he was a victim of a witch hunt,” said Joseph Taylor, 42, an X-ray technician. “From everything I saw, there was nothing there.”