A former mayor of Richardson and her husband were sentenced to federal prison on Thursday following their 2021 convictions on public corruption charges, according to a Department of Justice press statement released on August 4.
U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant sentenced Laura Maczka Jordan, 57, and Mark Jordan, 55, to 72 months in federal prison on Thursday after they were found guilty of several conspiracy, bribery, and tax fraud counts last July. On October 24, they must report to prison, The Dallas Morning News reported.
“For the residents of Richardson, today is a step toward rebuilding public trust,” said Dallas FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno in the press release. “Laura [Maczka] Jordan violated her obligation to serve her constituents, and along with Mark Jordan, carried out a conspiracy to commit bribery and tax fraud all while concealing their illicit conduct from the City of Richardson and its taxpayers.”
The two were involved in bribery schemes before getting married, according to the Department of Justice, when Laura Maczka served as Richardson’s mayor from May 2013 to April 2015 and Jordan worked as a land developer. In addition, the couple is alleged to have engaged in a sexual affair during that time.
Maczka voted in favor of Jordan’s contentious zoning changes, permitting the development of the unpopular 1,000-unit Palisades apartments in Richardson. In exchange, Maczka received $18,000 in cash, a $40,000 check, thousands of dollars worth of house renovations, and luxury vacations and was given “lucrative employment” at one of Mark Jordan’s companies.
“Citizens should be able to trust that their elected representatives honestly conduct themselves in a manner that solely benefits the community,” said U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston. “When the greed of personal gain and benefit results from official actions taken on the pretense of altruistic motives, then the integrity of the whole process is corrupted.”
In 2015, after the investigation got underway and Maczka resigned as mayor, the two got married.
A federal grand jury indicted Laura and Mark Jordan on May 10, 2018, and the two were convicted on July 24, 2021.
Featherson added, “Jordan and Maczka have now been convicted by a jury of their peers, and their punishment should reflect some measure of repair of that trust by the citizens of Richardson.”