Ex-Dallas council member Dwaine Caraway gets 5 months knocked off sentence for trial testimony

Former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway has received a five-month reduction in the sentence he is serving for fraud and tax evasion, in exchange for his recent testimony in a different public corruption case. Caraway, 69, who is in poor health, had sought time off of his sentence of four years and eight months — given for his part in a school bus-related bribery scheme. Government prosecutors had recommended he receive a 10-month credit for his cooperation in last month’s trial of Dallas developer Ruel Hamilton.

The Oak Cliff native testified last month against Hamilton, who was convicted on June 29 of bribery by a federal jury for paying Caraway and former council member Carolyn Davis for official help with his low-income housing projects. Caraway resigned from the Dallas City Council and pleaded guilty in August 2018 to taking about $450,000 in bribes and kickbacks over several years from men responsible for the downfall of the school bus agency Dallas County Schools. Davis pleaded guilty to her role in the scheme in 2019 but died shortly afterward in a car crash. Chief U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn sentenced Caraway in April 2019 for his role in the school corruption case. He could have received up to seven years. Caraway reported to Big Spring federal prison in West Texas in May 2019. “Judge Lynn felt five months was more appropriate,” said Caraway’s attorney, Michael Payma, about the sentence reduction. “Dwaine knew that there are no guarantees, and he is grateful for the five months reduction.”