Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon was arrested Wednesday on public corruption charges, with the FBI alleging he took tens of thousands of dollars in bribes  including $20,000 in cash delivered in a briefcase last month to the mayors office where he also solicited $1 million more. 
 
 Cannon resigned Wednesday evening. He was arrested that morning at a SouthPark apartment used by undercover FBI agents after the mayor turned up expecting another payment, sources say. 
 
 The case against the former mayor alleges that in return for money, trips, hotel rooms and access to a luxury SouthPark apartment, Cannon promised to help agents posing as potential commercial investors with zoning, parking and other city-related issues. 
 
 According to officials, Cannon turned himself in to federal marshals after learning of a warrant for his arrest. He was immediately taken before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler of Charlotte. 
 
 Cannon was charged with theft and bribery after the FBI sting operation, said Anne Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. He was released on $25,000 unsecured bond, pending indictment, which could come as early as next week. The court file shows Charlotte attorney James Ferguson is representing Cannon. Ferguson did not return a phone call Wednesday afternoon. 
 
 If convicted on all charges, the 47-year-old faces up to 50 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines. The case is part of an ongoing investigation, according to the U.S. Attorneys office. 
 
 Cannon was the longest-serving elected official in Charlotte, having joined the city council in 1993. He is the regions highest-ranking official to be charged in a corruption case since former N.C. House speaker Jim Black of Matthews, also a Democrat, pleaded guilty in 2007. 
 
 Cannons arrest follows a four-year investigation, which stretched from a Las Vegas resort to the mayors office on the 15th floor of the Government Center, which Cannon has occupied for only five months. 
 
 Authorities said Cannon took bribes from undercover FBI agents five times  the most recent on Feb. 21 when he collected $20,000 in cash in the mayors office. 
 
 Tompkins said undercover agents showered Cannon with more than $48,000 in cash, airline tickets, a trip to Las Vegas, and use of a luxury SouthPark apartment in exchange for the use of his official position, Tompkins said. 
 
 FBI agents searched the mayors office, his home at Cumnor Lane and his offices at E-Z Parking Inc. at 312 West Trade St. They seized financial records, phones, computers and other electronic devices. They were also searching for a leather briefcase that agents say they stuffed with cash for the February visit to the mayors office. 
 
 Cannon made a brief court appearance Wednesday at the federal courthouse in uptown where he was told, among other things, that he could not be in possession of firearms. 
 
 Cannon declined to comment when approached by a WCNC-TV reporter as he left the building. At this point, theres nothing to respond to, Cannon said. 
 
 Fanning the cash 
 
 The federal investigation began in 2010. Originally, the FBI focused on other Charlotte targets but focused on Cannon in 2011, according to an affidavit from Eric Davis, an FBI special agent who specializes in public corruption cases. 
 
 At the time the probe began, Cannon was a city council member and mayor pro tem. 
 
 An undercover agent passed himself off as a business manager for a venture capital company based in Chicago. According to the affidavit, he met Cannon in November 2010, telling the city council member he and his investors were interested in opening a nightclub and bar in Charlotte. 
 
 Ultimately, the agent chose a property in uptown that had parking problems and required zoning changes. In subsequent meetings, Cannon described his relationship and influence over certain city departments and employees, including the zoning board. 
 
 On a Dec. 12, 2012, Cannon met an undercover agent at Capitol Grille, an upscale steakhouse on North Tryon Street  and the same restaurant where Black was accused of accepting bribes from a group of chiropractors years earlier. 
 
 Cannon asked the undercover agent if hed be interested in investing in a business Cannon planned to start called HERS, which would sell a feminine hygiene product nationally. The agent agreed to give Cannon a $12,500 zero-percent return on investment loan in return for his assistance in getting approval for the zoning needed for the nightclub. 
 
 But Cannon said he needed $40,000. I can do something for around $12,500. Any ideas how I can close the gap and get me some of that capital to get me started to pull this thing in? 
 
 In exchange for the money, the agent asked Cannon to make sure I dont run into any problems, the affidavit said. 
 
 Cannon replied: I will definitely help you out. So you just want me to help you out on that front? 
 
 At a Jan. 17, 2013, meeting in SouthPark, the undercover agent gave Cannon the $12,500 in cash by putting it on a coffee table in front of him. Cannon, according to the affidavit, looked nervously toward a window and covered the money with a folder. 
 
 After the agent closed the blinds, Cannon put the bills to his ear and fanned them. 
 
 Thats not how I flow 
 
 In a later conversation with the undercover agent, Cannon tried to characterize his acceptance of the money as a business investment unrelated to his public office, the affidavit says. 
 
 In laying out his philosophy as a public official, Cannon told the agent that he would have helped him even without the $12,500. Im not one of those Chicago- or Detroit-type folk. Thats not how I flow. 
 
 In an ironic aside during that same meeting, Cannon said that he looked good in an orange necktie, but not in an orange suit. 
 
 Agents said they gave Cannon ample opportunity to return the money, but he never did. 
 
 When Cannon announced his candidacy for mayor on May 21, 2013, he invited the undercover agent to attend, the affidavit says. 
 
 That month, the city council approved a streetcar line to west Charlotte. Weeks later, a second undercover agent approached Cannon and said his company was interested in investing along the streetcars path. He told Cannon he needed his help persuading potential investors, and hed fly Cannon to Las Vegas to do it. 
 
 Las Vegas: Lies for cash 
 
 As part of a trip with the agent, Cannon agreed to create the false impression with the investors that Cannon had had a long relationship with the undercover agents, the affidavit says. 
 
 In June, during discussions before the trip, Cannon raised the question of how he would be compensated for his role. When the agent replied, I want to take care of you on this, Cannon immediately suggested a contribution to his ongoing mayoral campaign. But the agent refused to pay Cannon before they took the trip. Cannon, according to affidavit, continued to press for the money up front. 
 
 In the end, the agent flew Cannon and his wife to Las Vegas on July 1 and paid for hotel room. He also gave Cannon $1,000 in cash at the hotel. 
 
 During the subsequent meeting, four FBI agents posing as businessmen promised to invest up to $25 million each for commercial property along the streetcar line. 
 
 Again, Cannon boasted of his ability and willingness to make things happen. Being around for 20 years has helped me a little bit, I think. Ive gone through probably four police chiefs, five city managers, three mayors, something like that. 
 
 Asked by one of the investors how long and often Cannon could assist with the project, Cannon replied: As long as Im elected. 
 
 A second Vegas payoff 
 
 Afterward, the second undercover agent had a private meeting with Cannon. The affidavit says they reached Cannons wife, Trenna, by speakerphone, and she personally thanked the agent for the $1,000 from the day before. After the call, the agent paid Cannon another $5,000 in cash for his presentation to the investors. Cannon put the envelope containing the bills in the breast pocket of his suit. 
 
 Then Cannon asked whether he could work with the second agent on some private deals, the affidavit says. Your value to us, obviously, is the position that youre in and that you can pick up the phone and make things happen for us that, from our perspective, is absolutely invaluable Theres no reason why it cant be a win-win relationship for both of us, the agent told him. 
 
 After returning to Charlotte, Cannon met with an undercover agent in a SouthPark apartment rented by the FBI for $2,100 a month and equipped with hidden cameras. Agents gave Cannon an additional $10,000 for his work in Las Vegas. 
 
 Throughout the investigation, authorities said, Cannon had asked for keys or access to the apartment. The agent told Cannon that he was about to drop the lease on the apartment but would continue to pay rent if Cannon wanted to use it. When Cannon got his own his key, he told the agent excitedly, Aw man! 
 
 Payoff in February 
 
 On Feb. 21 this year, an undercover agent brought one of the phony Las Vegas investors to Cannons office in the Government Center. During that meeting, the affidavit says, Cannon received a leather Fossil briefcase containing $20,000 in cash. Then, Cannon asked for substantially more. 
 
 I told Trenna she has a point, Cannon told the agents. 
 
 She has what? the agent responded. 
 
 A point, one percent, Cannon replied. 
 
 According to the affidavit, Cannon was asking for a 1 percent payoff from the potential $125 million project, or $1.25 million in all. 
 
 Then the mayor and the agent grappled for the best way to get the $20,000 out of the office. Since the briefcase had passed through security when the agent arrived, they talked about how it would be best if he took it out, and perhaps meet near the airport for the hand-off. In the end, the briefcase stayed in Cannons office, the affidavit says. 
 
 I just got to be conscious about that kind of stuff here, Cannon said. 
 
 Cannon had scheduled a meeting about the payments for Wednesday with the agent, according to the affidavit. 
 
 Trial likely 
 
 On the morning of his arrest Wednesday, Cannon spent about an hour on the phone with Gov. Pat McCrory, himself a former Charlotte mayor, to discuss the citys airport, according to McCrory. 
 
 Cannon then drove to SouthPark, where federal agents were waiting, a source confirmed. 
 
 If Cannon is indicted next week as expected, prominent Charlotte defense attorney Jim Cooney says he expects the case to go to trial. 
 
 If he takes a felony or pleads guilty, its over for him. Everything he has always worked for is lost, Cooney said. 
 
 If Cannon alleges entrapment by the FBI, Cooney said his attorneys face a difficult legal task. 
 
 Youve got to show that you wouldnt have done it otherwise, Cooney said. Here, the issue is, how did you target him to begin with? Was he having financial problems? Did you know that? Were you playing to a weakness? The defense attorney may argue that he tried to give some of the money back. 
 
 In the end, it depends on what the jury feels about what the government has done. Did they catch a felon, Cooney said, or take an otherwise law-abiding person and convince him to commit a crime that he normally wouldnt have committed. 
 
 If convicted, Cooney and other Charlotte attorneys expect the former mayor to spend a significant amount of time in prison. 
 
 I know very few judges who consider a conviction like this anything else than a very, very serious matter, Cooney said. 
 
 April Bethea, Kathleen Purvis, Ames Alexander and Gary Schwab contributed to this report. 

 The new Charlotte mayor, Patrick Cannon, gave his victory speech Tuesday night with his family by his side. 
 
 READ our latest story on the criminal charges against Patrick Cannon. 
 
 A major political scandal unraveled in Charlotte Wednesday as Patrick Cannon resigned as Charlotte’s mayor after federal investigators arrested him on bribery and corruption charges. 
 
 
 
 Documents outline how agents said the mayor abused his power for years. 
 
 
 
 Cannon submitted his resignation letter to City Manager Ron Carlee and the city's attorney, making his resignation effective immediately. 
 
 
 
 In it he said, "In light of the charges that have been brought against me, it is my judgment that the pendency of these charges will create too much of a distraction for the business of the city to go forward smoothly and without distraction… I regret that I have to take this action, but I believe that it is in the best interest of the city for me to do so." 
 
 DOCUMENT: Patrick Cannon's resignation letter 
 
 Cannon began his time in office back in 1993, serving as councilman for District 3. 
 
 
 
 From 2001 to 2005 and 2010 to 2013 he served on the council as mayor pro tem. 
 
 
 
 It will now be up to the city council to name an interim mayor, but they have not said how soon that will happen. 
 
 
 
 It's a process they went through last July when Anthony Foxx resigned to become the U.S. transportation secretary. 
 
 The council appointed Patsy Kinsey as interim mayor until Cannon was elected. 
 
 WATCH: Patrick Cannon's first 100 days as mayor 
 
 
 
 The mayor pro tem takes on the mayor's duties in his absence at council meetings, according to state law. 
 
 
 
 On any given day the city manager and council run the city so Charlotte still has leadership. 
 
 Cannon was released from jail on $25,000 bond. 
 
 Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon was arrested Wednesday by FBI agents for alleged violations of federal public corruption laws, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. 
 
 The federal criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court charged Cannon, 47, with theft and bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, honest services wire fraud and extortion under color of official right. 
 
 WATCH: Charlotte City Council makes statement on Cannon's arrest 
 
 According to allegations contained in the charging document and the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, during the course of a separate criminal investigation, the FBI received reliable information that Cannon was potentially involved in illegal activities associated with his position as an elected official, and began an undercover investigation in or about August 2010. 
 
 SPECIAL SECTION: Charlotte's Mayor Patrick Cannon 
 
 The complaint and affidavit allege that during the course of that investigation, Cannon solicited and accepted money bribes and things of value from undercover FBI agents, posing as commercial real estate developers and investors wishing to do business in Charlotte. As alleged in the filed documents, Cannon solicited and accepted such bribes and things of value in exchange for the use of his official position as Charlotte Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and/or as a City Council Member. 
 
 WATCH: Mayor Cannon speaks during his 2013 campaign 
 
 The complaint and law enforcement affidavit allege that Cannon accepted the bribes from the undercover FBI agents on five separate occasions. On the last occasion, on Feb. 21 Cannon allegedly accepted $20,000 in cash in the mayor’s office. According to the complaint and the affidavit, between January 2013 and February 2014, Cannon allegedly accepted from the undercover agents over $48,000 in cash, airline tickets, a hotel room and use of a luxury apartment in exchange for the use of his official position. 
 
 READ past coverage of Mayor Cannon 
 
 Cannon had his initial appearance in court Wednesday and has been released on bond, pending indictment. The charge of theft and bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds carries a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; the charge of honest services wire fraud carries a statutory maximum sentence of not more than 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine; and the charge of extortion under color of official right carries a statutory maximum sentence of not more than 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. 
 
 The charges contained in the criminal complaint are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law. 
 
 WATCH: Cannon speaks to Channel 9 during Charlotte's Next Mayor special in October 
 
 The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael E. Savage of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina. The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 
 
 Gov. Pat McCrory released the following statement today after learning of the arrest of Cannon: 
 
 "I am both saddened and angered because I have known Patrick and his family for over 30 years, but more than anything, my heart is broken for the City of Charlotte," McCrory stated. "This is not the city that I know, served and love. This alleged behavior is inexcusable and cannot be tolerated." 
 
 Edwin Peacock III, who ran against Cannon for mayor, released the following statement after learning of Cannon's arrest: 
 
 "The people of Charlotte deserve nothing but the highest ethical behavior from our elected officials. The public trust has been shattered and must now be restored." 
 
 To read more reaction from local groups and officials, click here. 
 
 Legal analyst provides more perspective on Cannon’s arrest 
 
 Channel 9 reached out to a legal analyst for more perspective on Cannon’s arrest and case. 
 
 
 
 The analyst said there’s a possibility that agents used video and audio recordings -- even marked money in an effort to bring these charges against Cannon. Read more by clicking here. 
 
 CEO of local organization says it's too soon to sever ties with mayor 
 
 Mayor Patrick Cannon has been a mentor for several organizations in the city of Charlotte. 
 
 
 
 Channel 9 spoke to one organization's CEOs about Wednesday’s developments. 
 
 
 
 She said she hopes the news doesn't overshadow the good work Big Brothers and Big Sisters does in the community. Read more by clicking here. 
 
 Mentoring group former mayor participated in reacts to accusation 
 
 Patrick Cannon's rise from public housing to public office was a success story often touted by Men Who Care Global. 
 
 
 
 The organization works to provide positive role models and mentors to young African-American men and boys. Executive Director Victor Earl said he never imagined Cannon's journey would include the possibility of time in the penitentiary. Read more by clicking here. 

 CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Less than six months on the job, the mayor of Charlotte was arrested and accused Wednesday of accepting more than $48,000 in bribes from FBI agents posing as real estate developers who wanted to do business with North Carolina's largest city. 
 
 Mayor Patrick Cannon, a 47-year-old Democrat, faces theft and bribery charges, U.S. Attorney Anne Tompkins said. Cannon was accused of soliciting and accepting more than $48,000 in cash, airline tickets, a hotel room and the use of a luxury apartment as bribes. 
 
 If convicted on all the charges, he faces 20 years in prison and more than $1 million in fines. 
 
 Cannon, a radio host and the owner of a parking management company, was elected mayor in November, replacing Anthony Foxx, who was named Transportation Secretary by President Barack Obama. 
 
 Telephone messages left for Cannon were not immediately returned Wednesday afternoon. 
 
 FBI agents posing as commercial real estate developers paid Cannon on five separate occasions between January 2013 and February 2014, according to the complaint. Cannon accepted cash in exchange for access to city officials responsible for planning, zoning and permitting. 
 
 On the last occasion, Cannon was accused of accepting $20,000 in cash in the mayor's office, the complaint said. 
 
 The investigation began in August 2010, when Cannon still held an at-large seat on the Charlotte City Council. 
 
 Cannon was first elected to City Council in 1993. He is also longtime radio show host who discusses local and national politics. In November, he defeated Republican challenger Edwin Peacock. 
 
 Cannon was also accused of accepting $12,500 from an undercover agent to help him develop a feminine hygiene product called "Hers" to be marketed and sold in the United States. In exchange, Cannon offered to help the undercover agent — posing as a business manager for a venture capital company — get the necessary permits to open a nightclub. 
 
 During the meeting, an undercover agent told Cannon: "You know, again whatever you can do to get our application moved up towards the top, uh, business license and things like that, that we need." 
 
 According to the complaint, Cannon responded: "Yeah, not a problem." 
 
 Cannon later had a discussion with the undercover agent, apparently attempting to clarify to the mayor that the money was strictly seed money for the "Hers" product and not payment for his help in opening the nightclub. Cannon ended the conversation by saying he looked good "in an orange necktie, but not an orange suit," according to the complaint. 
 
 When the agent set up two later meetings to discuss the money and give Cannon an opportunity to return it, Cannon failed to show up, the complaint said. 
 
 During his campaign, Cannon promoted plans to create jobs in a city of 760,000 people that has become one of the nation's leading banking and energy centers. 
 
 Big banks helped drive Charlotte's explosive growth over the past two decades. The city is home to Bank of America Corp., one of the nation's largest banks by assets. 
 
 But the city's financial institutions were hurt in the nation's banking meltdown. Since 2008, Charlotte has lost thousands of good-paying financial services jobs.
– The FBI thinks the mayor of Charlotte, NC, is a crook. Federal prosecutors today charged Patrick Cannon 47, with taking bribes after a four-year investigation, reports the Charlotte Observer. Cannon allegedly accepted about $50,000 in cash, airline tickets, and use of a luxury apartment from undercover FBI agents posing as real estate developers, reports WSOC-TV. That includes a $20,000 payment made right in the mayor's office last month, say the feds. Cannon has been mayor only five months, but the investigation goes back to his days on the City Council. He is accused of taking five separate payments since January 2013 and using his influence to set up meetings between the "developers" and key city officials. The AP highlights one back-and-forth noted by the FBI, which followed the exchange of $12,500: Undercover agent: "You know, again whatever you can do to get our application moved up towards the top, uh, business license and things like that, that we need." Cannon: "Yeah, not a problem." If convicted on all the corruption charges, Cannon faces 20 years in prison and $1 million in fines. He was released on bond today following a court appearance.