ST. LOUIS — Federal prosecutors have charged a St. Louis County jail official with four counts of wire fraud in a scheme to obtain COVID-19 relief funds for a local businessman and split the proceeds, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.
Tony Weaver, 63, worked as the legislative assistant to former St. Louis County Councilwoman Rochelle Walton Gray before St. Louis County Executive Sam Page in 2019 hired him as the “change management coordinator” at the troubled jail.
Page fired him Tuesday after the charges became public.
Weaver, later appearing in federal court Tuesday in handcuffs, pleaded not guilty. He was released from custody on his own recognizance. He declined to speak to reporters gathered outside the courthouse downtown.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith is prosecuting the case. Goldsmith, who handles public corruption cases, declined to comment after Weaver’s hearing.
According to the indictment, Weaver approached a small business owner in May 2020 about applying for federal grants through the county, and that his boss on the council, identified in the indictment as “Jane Doe,” needed to know the names of the businessman’s companies because she made the final decision.
In May 2020, while Walton Gray was still on the council, the county launched the St. Louis County Small Business Relief (SBR) program to award grants totaling $17.5 million to small businesses that were affected by...
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