Federal jury finds former head of Atlanta Watershed guilty

ATLANTA - A federal jury has found another former high-ranking city official from former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed's administration guilty of a federal crime. 

Former commissioner of the Department of Watershed Management, Jo Ann Macrina was found guilty of bribery and conspiratorial bribery.

A February 2019 indictment accused Jafari of tax evasion, money laundering and bribing former city chief procurement officer Adam Smith, who has pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison. Jafari has pleaded not guilty to those charges. Additional counts of bribery and tampering with a witness have been filed against Jafari for bribes he paid to Macrina, prosecutors said.

Macrina, who now lives in Daytona Beach, Florida, headed Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management from April 2011 through May 20, 2016. She was later fired by then-Mayor Kasim Reed.

Macrina met with Jafari alone and with others, including Smith, to discuss city procurement projects, bids and solicitations from at least 2014 until she was fired, prosecutors said. Those meetings often happened while Jafari was actively seeking city contracts and projects, they said.

Prosecutors allege that Macrina helped a joint venture led by Jafari’s company to win contracts worth $11 million, despite the fact that its proposal had scored at the bottom of city evaluators’ rankings.

Macrina discussed potential employment with Jafari and accepted bribes — including $10,000 in cash, jewelry, a room at a luxury hotel in Dubai and landscaping work — as a reward for providing him with information and preferential treatment for city projects, prosecutors said.

The federal jury took five hours to find her guilty.

The judge allowed her to remain out on bond.

No date has been scheduled for sentencing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report