Thread: 34 people convicted in federal probe of Detroit corruption

34 people convicted in federal probe of Detroit corruption

6:07 PM, October 10, 2013

Counting Kwame Kilpatrick, Bobby Ferguson and Bernard Kilpatrick, 34 people have been convicted in the federal government’s probe of municipal corruption in Detroit.

The sweeping investigation, ranging from low-level contractors to top city officials, focused on city contracts and projects, and investments of the city's two pension funds.

Here are the other people convicted, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office:
■ Jon Rutherford, owner of a homeless shelter. Pleaded guilty to tax evasion; sentenced to 21 months.
■ Judith Bugaiski, bookkeeper for Rutherford's Metro Emergency Services. Pleaded guilty to tax evasion; received probation.
■ Karl Kado, Cobo Center contractor. Pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns for not reporting $170,000 in bribes to Kwame Kilpatrick, Bernard Kilpatrick and then-Cobo director Efstathios (Lou) Pavledes; sentenced to probation.
■ Glenn Blanton, ex-Cobo director. Pleaded guilty to creating phony documents to conceal a $15,000 bribe from Kado; sentenced to one year.
■ Efstathios (Lou) Pavledes, former Cobo director. Pleaded guilty to concealing a $100,000 bribe from Kado; sentenced to 14 months in prison.
■ Jerry Rivers, ex-Detroit police officer. Pleaded guilty in a $50,000 bribery scheme involving the $3.5-million sale of city-owned Camp Brighton; sentenced to one year.
■ DeDan Milton, former mayoral aide and friend of Kwame Kilpatrick. Pleaded guilty in Camp Brighton bribery scheme; sentenced to 42 months.
■ Kandia Milton, Kilpatrick's deputy mayor and DeDan Milton's brother. Pleaded guilty in Camp Brighton bribery scheme; sentenced to 14 months.
■ James Rosendall Jr., point man in Michigan for Synagro Technologies. Pleaded guilty to bribery to obtain a billion-dollar sludge-disposal contract; sentenced to 11 months.
■ Rayford Jackson, Synagro consultant. Pleaded guilty to paying more than $6,000 in bribes to then-Councilwoman Monica Conyers; sentenced to five years.
■ Monica Conyers, former Detroit city councilwoman and wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers. Pleaded guilty to taking bribes from Synagro and others, and from a city public pension board on which she served; sentenced to 37 months.
■ Sam Riddle, aide to Monica Conyers. Pleaded guilty to conspiracy in conjunction with bribing Southfield Councilman William Lattimore and extortion with Conyers; sentenced to 37 months.
■ John Clark, City Council aide who took a $3,000 payoff from Synagro's Rosendall. Pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI; received five months.
■ William Lattimore, then-Southfield councilman. Pleaded guilty to accepting $7,500 to help relocate a pawn shop to Southfield; sentenced to 18 months in prison.
■ Mary Waters, former state representative and Riddle's then-girlfriend. Implicated in the Southfield bribery conspiracy, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor tax charge; received one year of probation.
■ Victor Mercado, former water department director under Kilpatrick. Pleaded guilty to conspiracy as a member of the Kilpatrick Enterprise; faces up to 18 months in prison when sentenced.
■ Derrick Miller, top Kilpatrick aide and close friend who testified against the former mayor at trial. Pleaded guilty to bribery and lying on his taxes; faces up to 10 years in prison.
■ Emma Bell, longtime Kilpatrick fund-raiser who testified she gave Kilpatrick thousands of dollars in cash kickbacks. Pleaded guilty to tax evasion; faces up to 24 months.
■ Chauncey Mayfield, former investment adviser to the two city pension funds. Pleaded guilty to conspiring with former Detroit Treasurer Jeffrey Beasley to pay him bribes in exchange for new business from the funds; faces up to five years.
■ Marc Andre Cunningham, former Kilpatrick assistant and friend. Pleaded guilty to paying a $15,000 bribe to Kilpatrick's father, Bernard Kilpatrick, for supporting a $30-million investment of city pension funds; faces up to 37 months.
■ Andrew Park, an owner of the failed Asian Village restaurant venture who said he paid bribes to Derrick Miller and, in turn, Kwame Kilpatrick. Pleaded guilty to tax evasion; sentenced to one year.
■ Shakib Deria, Ferguson Enterprises employee. Pleaded guilty to conspiracy to structure financial transactions; given probation.
■ Brian Dodds, part-owner of a Howell earth-moving company. Pleaded guilty to submitting an inflated bid so contractor Ferguson could win a project; received probation.
■ Tabitha Goodner, Ferguson employee who admitted she prepared a phony auditor's report at his request because he didn't want to pay $30,000 for an official one. Pleaded guilty to concealing a crime; fined $5,000.
■ Rodney Burrell, owner of Northville hauling company. Pleaded guilty to submitting an inflated bid so Ferguson could win a project; received probation.
■ Charlie Golden, former assistant superintendent of buildings for Detroit. Pleaded guilty to one count of bribery; awaiting sentencing.
■ Alonzo Bates, former Detroit city councilman. Hired and paid ghost employees and accepted free construction services in exchange for favorable voting on council; sentenced to 33 months.
■ Michael Rosette, contractor. Made false statements to the FBI regarding the Bates investigation; received probation.
■ Verenda Arnold, Bates' ghost employee. Pleaded guilty to theft; received probation.
■ Britni Barber, Bates' ghost employee. Pleaded guilty to theft; received probation.
■ George Stanton, former chief of staff to ex-city councilwoman Alberta Tinsley-Talabi. Pleaded guilty to bribery, admitting he pocketed $15,000 in cash from an Atlanta businessman in exchange for political favors involving dealings before the city’s embattled pension funds. He faces up to 10 years in prison.

http://www.freep.com/article/20131010/NEWS/310100184/34-people-convicted-federal-probe-Detroit-corruption

MiamiHerald See realtime coverage

Ex-Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick: 'I really, really, really messed up' Los Angeles Times 40 minutes ago Written by Michael Muskal Former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who turned Detroit into his personal wallet, was sentenced Monday to 28 years in prison for corruption in the city that has become the modern face of municipal bankruptcy.