The 89-page indictment accuses Kwame and Bernard Kilpatrick, top mayoral aide Derrick Miller, contractor Bobby Ferguson and former water department boss Victor Mercado. Ferguson is identified as the hub of the alleged conspiracy by accepting millions of dollars for work that was either fraudulent or not performed. What is striking is that the indictment says that the corruption continued up to Kwame Kilpatrick’s last three weeks in office.
One allegation stemming from 2001 involves Kilpatrick’s support for a homeless shelter’s bid for a multimillion-dollar county contract — after his own nonprofit civic fund received a $50,000 contribution from the shelter’s owner.
The indictment lays out an impressive array of payoffs from cash to private jet trips to spa visits to yoga classes.
The racketeering, bribery, extortion and fraud charges could bring 30 year sentences.
This is only the latest such corruption case (here and here) which has thinned the ranks of the Detroit powerful establishment. The question is why the people of Detroit has allowed such gross corruption to continue in their city. It is often said that, in a democracy, voters receive the leaders they deserve but no one deserves this lot.
The article below contains details of the corruption allegations.
Source: Freep
Jonathan Turley