New year, but same old same old when it comes to Detroit city government.
A 35-year-old Detroit city councilman, Gabe Leland, is targeted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation according to the Detroit Free Press. Fox 2 News bird-dogged the story earlier this summer.
Here are the high level bullet points:
- Gasper Fiore pleaded guilty to bribery last month of a Macomb County official as part of a wide-ranging corruption investigation that’s now touching both Macomb County and the city of Detroit.
- Turns out Detroit Councilman Leland was dating indicted towing magnate Gasper Fiore’s daughter, Jennifer.
- Leland didn’t recuse himself from votes to send business to Gasper Fiore controlled companies. That may not be illegal, but is ethically questionable considering the on again, off again nature of dating his daughter.
- Leland also asked for a meeting with Detroit Police Chief James Craig, according to the Chief, under pretenses of a resident complaint but then allegedly went on to ask specifically about towing issues.
- The FBI has wiretap evidence of Leland briefing Fiore on the status of investigations of towing companies in Detroit.
Here’s the full report. It’s worth a read.
Notable: Council members who have commented seem to be circling the wagons around Leland for now. Council president Brenda Jones said that it’s “hearsay” until she sees something “legal,” and Scott Benson talked about how he looks forward to working with Leland for the next four years.