Breaking news from The St Louis Post-Dispatch.
Lewis Reed, the longtime president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, along with Alderman Jeffrey Boyd and former Alderman John Collins-Muhammad, have been indicted on federal charges related to a bribery scheme and corruption, according to a federal indictment unsealed Thursday.
The charges are likely to send shock waves through the St. Louis political establishment, where Reed has held sway for over a decade.
Reed, 59, has been a fixture at City Hall since he was elected 6th Ward alderman in 1999.
After serving two years in that post, he was elected board president — a job filled in a citywide election — in 2007.
He was the first African American elected to the position, one of the three most powerful in city government. He was then reelected to the post three times.
He has run unsuccessfully for mayor three times, most recently last year.
In addition to assigning bills to aldermanic committees and presiding over the board’s weekly meetings, Reed as president also has served on the city’s top fiscal body — the three-member Board of Estimate and Apportionment — with the mayor and comptroller.
