Suburban St. Louis mayor facing another extortion charge

ST. LOUIS -- The mayor of a small St. Louis suburb already charged with extorting money from a towing company is now accused of doing the same to a convenience store, federal officials said.

Federal prosecutors said Pine Lawn Mayor Sylvester Caldwell took at least $1,000 from the unnamed convenience store between July 2013 and June. The grand jury indictment says the store's owner and an employee paid Caldwell out of fear that he would "make trouble" without the payments.

Caldwell tried to disguise the payments as donations to Pine Lawn, according to the indictment.

Last year, Caldwell was charged with extorting at least $1,600 from a towing company in exchange for it servicing the city's police department. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Caldwell and the towing company's owner used "Mountain Dew" as code for cash exchanges, according to the indictment.

In one meeting in a gas station parking lot, the indictment says Caldwell asked the towing company's owner to get him "a cup of Mountain Dew." The man brought back a bottle of the drink, and the indictment says Caldwell refused and told him "I just like the green Mountain Dew in a cup."

The man went back inside, put $300 in a disposable cup and took it out to Caldwell, according to the indictment.

In a February phone call, Caldwell told the owner the city would use a different towing company "until you learn how to grow up," according to the indictment.

Caldwell has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

His attorney, Travis Noble, said Wednesday that Caldwell maintains his innocence.

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com