By Allan Lengel For Deadline Detroit DETROIT — A surprise guilty plea on Monday by former water department director Victor Mercado in mid-trial could do some serious harm to his co-defendants in the Kwame Kilpatrick public corruption trial, particularly the ex-mayor. “It’s more likely than not to have a negative impact on the jury’s feelings…
Steve Neavking ticklethewire.com DETROIT — A Detroit Muslim leader was unarmed when authorities fatally shot him during a raid inside a suburban warehouse in 2009, the family of the man said in a lawsuit, a claim that’s totally contrary to what the FBI concluded, the Detroit Free Press reports. The suit filed in U.S. District…
By Allan Lengel For Deadline Detroit DETROIT — In the eighth-floor federal courtroom where Kwame Kilpatrick is on trial, prosecutors in coming weeks will summon one of their star witnesses: Derrick “Zeke” Miller. Miller, who authorities say was a “bagman” and “right-hand man” for Kilpatrick, was a close friend of the mayor — not…
By Allan Lengel For Deadline Detroit DETROIT — The other day ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick tweeted: “If this case was in another State, not paid for by taxpayers, & my life was not on the line, this ish would be laughable.” Well, yes, perhaps almost laughable for Kwame. Depressing for the rest of us. For…
“A true friend stabs you in the front.” Oscar Wilde By Allan Lengel For Deadline Detroit DETROIT –– Betrayal. There ex-mayor Kwame Kilpatrick sat in federal court Thursday morning, bow tie and suit, leaning at first to the left, looking dour, as if someone was about to punch him in the stomach. In front…
By Allan Lengel For Deadline Detroit DETROIT –– Observations from the federal courthouse on Lafayette Blvd.: Ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is still managing to muster a smile after a week of his public corruption trial. And yes, he’s looking rather dapper, some days wearing a bow tie, others a traditional one. That being said, the…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Nearly four decades after Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa went missing, the FBI continues to investigate tips that lead agents to dead ends. This time a local police department is investigating a tip that Hoffa may be buried underneath a driveway in Roseville, a suburb of Detroit, not far from where Hoffa disappeared,…
By Allan Lengel For Deadline Detroit DETROIT — Poor Kwame Kilpatrick. He’s got a cash problem. No, not a shortage. Too much. On Monday, the feds produced bank statements showing that he deposited about $531,000 in cash — beyond his paychecks — while he was mayor from 2002 to 2008. He also used $280,000…
