“A Criminal Enterprise”: Democrat- Controlled Shelby County Commissioners Hit With RICO Lawsuit- Memphis Pastor Cites Kash Patel’s “Deep State” Government Gangsters As Recognized Phenomena

By: Public Affairs Staff on April 23, 2025

MEMPHIS, TN ——- Rev. Dr. Gerald Kiner has filed a sweeping federal lawsuit accusing Shelby County officials of running local government like an organized crime ring. In a stunning 409-page complaint filed in federal court Monday April 21. 

To contextualize his allegations, Kiner’s suit illustrates his claims are not theoretical or conspiratorial, but reflect a recognized phenomena identified by senior law enforcement and intelligence officials- the Memphis pastor invokes FBI Director Kash Patel’s definition of “government gangsters” – corrupt bureaucrats acting as “thugs in suits” under the guise of righteousness. 

Because the $5 million in question was diverted from federal ARPA funds, into a so- called “Racial Equity Fund”, Shelby County Commissioners failure to conduct a competitive grant process, enforce reporting requirements, or prevent conflicts of interest constitutes a likely violation of federal law—specifically the Uniform Guidance under 2 C.F.R. § 200, which governs the lawful use of federal funds, and may expose the County to penalties under the False Claims Act and potential criminal liability under 18 U.S.C. § 287.

Edmund Ford Jr – The So-Called Racial Equity Fund Mastermind 

Kiner’s lawsuit noted:

“Edmund Ford Jr., whose prior ethics scandals, fraudulent self-dealing, and federal indictment for bribery and tax evasion (Exhibits B, C, D) were not just overlooked by his fellow Democratic commissioners, but rewarded. He was shockingly elevated to chair the very committee that would oversee millions in discretionary grants- the ‘Racial Equity Ad Hoc Committee.”

Kiner added, “Despite a public history of unethical conduct, Ford was empowered by his Democratic colleagues to act with unchecked authority- Ford personally selected the six nonprofits who would receive the so-called ‘Racial Equity Fund’ grants. His selections were rubber-stamped by the same body that had previously failed to act on damning ethics findings. In a shameless attempt to justify his fraudulent scheme, Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. invoked race and state politics as a smokescreen to conceal corruption. Instead of offering a legitimate rationale for creating the “Racial Equity Ad Hoc Committee,” Ford blamed the political climate in Nashville exploiting racial tensions to mask self-dealing and favoritism.” At the Shelby County Commissioner meeting, Edmond Ford Jr openly confessed, “Madam Chair, when you became the chair, I asked if we could create this Racial Equity Ad Hoc committee, and we named it as such because of the temperature in Nashville.”

Kiner seeks to prove RICO violations by connecting two illegal acts within a 10-year span: the creation of the fraudulent $5M Racial Equity Fund and the fraudulent $100M More for Memphis ordinance, both orchestrated by the Democrat-led Shelby County Commission allegedly to engage in favoritism, self-dealing, and the diversion of public funds to their donors and friends, furthering a pattern of corruption and political gain.

Legal experts note that civil RICO suits against government entities are unique, in part because of the complexity of proving an “enterprise” and a pattern of predicate crimes. But Kiner’s complaint made describing an enterprise look easy as he lists those predicate acts in detail: bribery (via campaign contributions given in exchange for votes), wire fraud (using emails and documents to communicate false information about $100M “secured funds”), and honest services fraud (depriving citizens of their right to faithful services of an elected official). Each of these, Kiner contends, is a chargeable offense under 18 U.S.C. §1346 or §1343 and, taken together, they form a “pattern of racketeering activity” as defined by RICO law.

“Shelby County Commissioners Created More For Memphis Scam”

One of the lawsuit’s most explosive claims is that the Shelby County Commissioners in a joint ordinance with the Memphis City Council, misled the public about its funding. In official ordinances and public presentations, county and city leaders touted that $100 million in private philanthropic funds had been “secured” to support the “More for Memphis” initiative alongside county and city funding for the initiative created by their political donor. Yet under scrutiny, that boast crumbled. In a contentious December 2024 commission meeting, Jamilica Burke – president of the nonprofit Seeding Success and figurehead of More for Memphis – admitted no such money actually existed. “More for Memphis is not an incorporated organization… Funds have been ‘committed’ but not banked,” Burke conceded when pressed. The revelation that the much-vaunted $100 million was little more than a wishful talking point sent shockwaves through the chamber. Commissioners Henri Brooks and Britney Thornton openly questioned whether the “secured” funding claim was a deliberate deception, while others fell silent. Kiner cites this episode as evidence of fraudulent misrepresentation – a lie to justify funneling public dollars into private hands.

Kiner’s lawsuit contends: 

1. Again, this pattern of corruption reached new heights in the “More for Memphis” scheme. Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. played a central role in advancing a fraudulent joint ordinance designed and driven by Seeding Success founder Mark Sturgis—whose political arm, Tennessee Prospers PAC, funneled tens of thousands of dollars in donations to 9 of 13 Shelby County Commissioners- nearly 70% of the entire Shelby County Government legislative body. Despite receiving this financial support, nearly all of the Commissioners failed to recuse themselves from the vote, approving a resolution falsely claiming that “More for Memphis” had $100 million in secured funds. Public records show the following contributions: 

• Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. – $8,300 
• Commissioner Shante Avant – $8,300 
• Commissioner Henri Brooks – $2,500 
• Commissioner Charlie Caswell – $8,300 
• Commissioner Amber Mills – $8,300 
• Commissioner Morrison – $8,300 ( returned the funds ) 
• Commissioner Erika Sugarmon – $4,000 
• Commissioner Michael Whaley – $8,300 
• Commissioner David C. Wright – $8,300

These coordinated political donations followed by favorable legislative action reflect a textbook pattern of corruption, fraud, and abuse of public trust. 

Kiner‘s suit began with: 

1. This is a civil rights and anti-corruption action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961–1968, by Plaintiff Rev. Dr. Gerald Kiner, a nonprofit executive with a proven track record in community service, who was arbitrarily and unlawfully excluded from accessing public funding due to a fraudulent scheme executed by elected officials. 
2. This scheme involved funneling $5 million in public funds under the pretense of promoting racial equity—but without any public notice, competition, or scoring criteria. It was orchestrated and overseen by Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr., who handpicked six nonprofits connected to himself and political allies, despite his history of ethics violations and a federal indictment for bribery and tax fraud (Exhibits B, C, D). 
3. The Defendants’ actions violate Plaintiff’s constitutional rights to due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment, multiple provisions of Tennessee law, and federal statutes designed to prevent racketeering and public corruption. 
4. The public may be surprised by the assertion that an entire elected legislative body, such as the Shelby County Board of Commissioners, could operate as a criminal enterprise. However, this phenomenon is not unprecedented. On February 20, 2025, NBC News reported that a grand jury in Alabama concluded that the entire Hanceville Police Department had “recently operated as more of a criminal enterprise than a law enforcement agency,” citing a “rampant culture of corruption” and recommending its complete dissolution. Like the Hanceville police, the Democratic-led Shelby County Commission has become a threat to the rule of law, engaging in repeated violations of due process, public trust, and fiscal integrity. Where other jurisdictions have removed corrupted agencies in defense of the Constitution, this Court is now faced with a similarly urgent question: whether the rule of law can survive unchecked abuse of power within Shelby County Government. 
5. In his bestselling book Government Gangsters, former federal prosecutor, senior U.S. national security official, and current FBI Director Kash Patel offered a sobering definition of the modern “deep state”:
   
   “A collection of unaccountable bad actors at the highest levels… the media, elected officials, corporations, and culture institutions who abuse the power they have been given and the institutions they were hired to serve in order to protect themselves and manipulate politics in their favor. And they are aided and abetted by people who are in on the game or too afraid to speak up.”
   
   The facts alleged in this case reflect that definition with chilling precision. The Democratic-led Shelby County Board of Commissioners has functioned as a local extension of this deep-state model—prioritizing political loyalty over public accountability, shielding unethical actors from consequences, and weaponizing government to serve a privileged political class. The case seeks to “ drain the swamp.”
   
   First, this framework helps contextualize Plaintiff’s allegations within a national, bipartisan concern about entrenched public corruption.
   
   Second, it elevates the legal narrative from a local scandal to a systemic crisis of governance.
   
   Third, it reinforces the validity of Plaintiff’s Monell and RICO claims by establishing a consistent, institutional pattern of favoritism, concealment, and political self-dealing—behaviors that mirror the very abuses the “deep state” label seeks to define. 
6. This case tells the disturbing but well-documented story of what happens when a local government body—entrusted with the public’s money and confidence—becomes, in practice, an unregulated corrupt political machine. 
7. For years, the Democratic-led Shelby County Board of Commissioners has operated with impunity, diverting federal and local taxpayer dollars to handpicked political allies, shielding one another from accountability, and systematically shutting out qualified organizations and individuals—especially those not in political favor. At the center of this pattern of misconduct is Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr., whose prior ethics scandals, fraudulent self-dealing, and federal indictment for bribery and tax evasion (Exhibits B, C, D) were not just overlooked by his fellow Democratic commissioners, but rewarded. He was shockingly elevated to chair the very committee that would oversee millions in discretionary grants- the Racial Equity Ad Hoc Committee.  
8. On June 3, 2024, the consequences of this corruption became undeniable. Commissioner Ford—without any public notice, competition, or objective scoring process—funneled $4 million in public funds to six nonprofits he personally selected through the Racial Equity Ad Hoc Committee (Exhibits A, E). Despite a public history of unethical conduct, Ford was empowered by his Democratic colleagues to act with unchecked authority. His selections were rubber-stamped by the same body that had previously failed to act on damning ethics findings. During the meeting, Ford openly confessed:
   
   “Madam Chair, when you became the chair, I asked if we could create this Racial Equity Ad Hoc committee, and we named it as such because of the temperature in Nashville.” 
9. What followed was a public display of governmental dysfunction and complicity. Commissioner Brittany Thornton, the Committee’s co-chair, admitted that she had never received responses from the selected grantees despite asking the same four questions “since committee” and told the public she had directed those questions to Commissioner Ford in advance (Exhibit F). Commissioner Charlie Caswell added that even as co-chair, Thornton “still has yet many questions,” calling into question the legitimacy of the committee’s process and transparency. Commissioner Henri Brooks further exposed the deception, confirming that the $5 million was never intended to be allocated for a Racial Equity Fund (Exhibit F). 
10. Pro Se Plaintiff Rev. Dr. Gerald Kiner—a qualified nonprofit leader and longtime community advocate—attended the meeting, spoke out against the unlawful and fiscally irresponsible nature of the funding scheme, and again warned the Commission: 

“We did not have a competitive process. The closed-door process… is both illegal and fiscally irresponsible… This exclusion, not only breaches legal transparency requirements, but also denies taxpayers the benefits of more efficient and effective programs.” (Exhibit H)

1. At the June 17, 2024 Shelby County Commissioners meeting, Plaintiff once again spoke publicly—not only to expose the illegality of the process, but to offer a competitive, cost-efficient, and community-grounded alternative that would better serve the County’s children. Plaintiff testified: 

“Financially, many of the proposed budgets from the selected organizations are wasteful and could be significantly reduced, saving taxpayers substantial amounts of money. For example, the June 12th, 2024 meeting Young Wall Street said to receive $600,000. It said it would take $800,000 to recruit 200 kids and families. This equates to $4,000 per child. Our From the Streets to Wall Street Foundation can achieve the same goals for $400 per child, enabling us to serve 2,000 children with the same $800,000. This stark difference in cost highlights the fiscal irresponsibility of the current selections.” (Exhibit H)

1. Despite offering to serve ten times more children for the same price, Plaintiff’s proposal was dismissed without consideration. This rejection was not based on capacity, merit, or fiscal responsibility, but on the fact that all six recipient organizations had already been illegally and secretly handpicked. This public record of exclusion and disregard underscores the rigged nature of the process, supports the Plaintiff’s Monell and RICO claims, and proves that the County’s disbursement of public funds was not only unconstitutional—but grossly irresponsible and politically motivated. 

II. JURISDICTION AND VENUE

1. This Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343, and 1367 because this case arises under federal civil rights and RICO statutes. 
2. Venue is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) because all events occurred in Shelby County, Tennessee, and all Defendants reside or operate therein.

By linking campaign donations, legislative favors, and financial rewards, the complaint argues that the entire County Commission effectively functioned as a “criminal enterprise.” 

The federal indictment of Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. looms large in the background. In late February 2025, a grand jury charged Ford Jr. with bribery, kickbacks, and tax evasion related to funneling public funds to certain nonprofits and then siphoning money for himself. Prosecutors allege Ford steered roughly $250,000 in grants to organizations that, in turn, routed payments back to him – for example, by purchasing computers from his private company. 

Kiner’s lawsuit brings to light a troubling revelation: of the six nonprofits handpicked by Commissioner Ford to receive a substantial $4 million in federal ARPA funds, Kiner’s public records request reveal, none of those six nonprofits have submitted the required quarterly reports detailing how those funds were spent—reports that are explicitly mandated by their contracts. The absence of financial documentation raises serious questions about whether the funds were diverted for personal or political gain. With no clear accounting, it is not out of the realm of possibility that kickbacks could have been funneled back to Ford or other commissioners, further eroding the public trust. This omission casts a shadow over the entire funding process, raising concerns about the potential misuse of taxpayer dollars and the unchecked power of elected officials in determining how and where those dollars flow.

At its core, the case of Kiner v. Shelby County Government places the Constitution in conflict with the conduct of elected officials. When competitive grantmaking is replaced with loyalty tests, and transparency is treated as a nuisance rather than a mandate, the government risks becoming indistinguishable from the criminal enterprises it was designed to police. Kiner’s lawsuit is not merely a legal battle—it’s a call to rescue local governance from a corrosive culture of secrecy, favoritism, and unchecked political power. 

Kiner’s lawsuit underscores what many in Shelby County have long suspected: that public office has been converted into private leverage. In a city grappling with generational poverty and institutional inequity, the misuse of federal ARPA funds and public ordinances becomes not just criminal financial malpractice, but a betrayal of public trust. 

The National Implication Lens 

While rooted in Memphis, Kiner’s suit resonates far beyond Tennessee. It taps into a bi-partisan national conversation about how public funds are distributed, who benefits, and what happens when political machines are left unchallenged. As similar dynamics unfold in cities across America, this case may serve as a legal blueprint for how to confront entrenched local corruption using the very tools designed to dismantle organized crime.

Impact On Shelby County 

With federal indictments, falsified ordinances, and political donations tied to policy outcomes, Rev. Dr. Gerald Kiner’s RICO lawsuit could become the opening salvo in a broader reckoning. If successful, it won’t just expose corruption—it may force a redesign of how power, contracts, and public trust are negotiated in Shelby County. The question now is no longer whether corruption exists—but whether the system can finally be forced to confront it.

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