Another associate of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been indicted. Detroit’s WXYZ news station reports former City Treasurer Jeffrey Beasley faces up to 20 years in federal prison for taking bribes and kickbacks; Beasley allegedly received more than $100,000 from people who did business with city pension funds.
ANCHOR: Former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has already been indicted for allegedly using that nonprofit as his personal piggybank. The indictment also alleges Beasley and the co-conspirators demanded and received trips, private jet flights, golf clubs, gambling money, Las Vegas concert tickets, massages, limo service and other things of value.
U.S. ATTORNEY BARBARA L. MCQUADE: I think we’ve made it pretty clear the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office is watching, and we’re watching very closely.
ANCHOR: The City Hall investigation has already netted the Feds 18 felony convictions, and McQuade says the culture of corruption is already changing.
MCQUADE: It’s no longer this sort of veil of secrecy that you’ve got to pay to play and that’s the culture of how business is done in the city of Detroit. I think that people do come forward now, because they want to avoid charges. They know that we’re going to come after them, and I’m hopeful that we can have a deterrent effect on public officials, who will, instead, do what they’re supposed to do and serve the public.
ANCHOR: I have reached out to Mr. Beasley’s attorney, but so far he isn’t commenting on this indictment. Beasley faces up to 20 years in federal prison, if he’s convicted. The Feds are also trying to seize more than $225,000 in unlawful payments allegedly received by Beasley and others, in hopes of paying the victims back.