Feds Subpoena Former Atlanta Procurement Chief

ATLANTA, GA -- Federal investigators have subpoenaed the former head of the city's procurement operations to testify next month as a bribery scandal rages at Atlanta City Hall. (For more news on the Atlanta bribery scandal and other local stories, click here to get Patch's daily newsletter and free, real-time news alerts.)

Adam Smith, who has been the city's chief procurement officer since 2003, will have to appear in court on March 28 to testify, according to local news reports.

The subpoena means the scope of a federal probe into how the city awarded contracts and to whom continues to dramatically widen. It also means that the feds aren't done seizing evidence.

Read more: Atlanta's Procurement Office Raided

Earlier this week, FBI agents raided Smith's City Hall office, taking a phone and computer.

While it was initially reported that federal agents led Smith out of the building, city officials said he was escorted from unspecified city personnel.

The FBI raid comes amidst a deepening investigation into a bribery scandal at City Hall, which has entangled two contractors so far.

Read more: 5 things about ex-Procurements Chief Adam Smith

Elvin “E.R.” Mitchell Jr. and Charles P. Richards Jr. have pleaded guilty to paying bribe money for influence in city contracts.

Another businessman named in the scandal, Shandarrick L. Barnes, has become a central figure. He is accused of placing dead rats around Mitchell's home and throwing a brick through one of his windows. The brick had a message on it scribbled in chalk: "ER, keep your mouth shut!!"

Smith has not been charged with any crime.

Image courtesy of Tiffany Johnson