|
Former
Deputy
CIO for
Wayne
County
cops
plea on
$13K
bribe,
cooperate
with
Feds for
reduced
time
DETROIT
- David
Edwards,
the
former
Deputy
Chief
Information
Officer
for
Wayne
County
pleaded
guilty
today to
taking
illegal
gratuities
from a
private
contractor
because
of his
official
acts,
United
States
Attorney
Barbara
L.
McQuade
announced
today.
McQuade
was
joined
in the
announcement
by
Special
Agent in
Charge
Andrew
Arena of
the
Federal
Bureau
of
Investigation
("FBI").
During a
hearing
this
morning
before
United
States
District
Judge
Stephen
J.
Murphy,
III,
Edwards,
41 of
Detroit,
Michigan,
admitted
that
between
2009 and
2011 he
accepted
$13,000
in cash
from a
private
contractor
who had
significant
technology
contracts
with
Wayne
County.
During
this
period
of time,
Edwards
was
responsible
for
overseeing
the
private
contractor's
work for
Wayne
County.
Edwards
took the
cash
from the
contractor
as a
reward
for his
work as
a county
official.
Based on
his
guilty
plea and
felony
conviction
for
accepting
illegal
gratuities
because
of
official
acts as
a
government
official,
Edwards
is
facing a
maximum
of ten
years in
prison,
a fine
of up to
$250,000,
and up
to three
years of
supervised
release.
As part
of his
plea
agreement
with the
government,
Edwards
has
agreed
to
cooperate
fully
with the
federal
authorities'
investigation
of
corruption
within
the
Waynefrom
contractor
County
government.
United
States
Attorney
McQuade
said,
"This
plea is
one more
step in
the
investigation
to
uncover
public
corruption
in Wayne
County
and to
ensure
that all
citizens
receive
the
honest
government
they
deserve."
Andrew
Arena,
Special
Agent in
Charge
of the
FBI
said,
"This
serves
as
another
example
of a
public
servant
abusing
their
power
and
betraying
public
trust
for
personal
gain.
The
Detroit
FBI
remains
committed
to
stopping
corruption
and
holding
public
officials
accountable
for
their
actions."
This
case was
investigated
by the
FBI led
Public
Corruption
Task
Force
which
includes
the U.S.
Attorney's
Office,
State
Attorney
General's
office,
IRS-CID,
HUD-OIG,
EPA-CID,
DOT-OIG,
Michigan
State
Police
and
Detroit
Police
Department.
The case
was
investigated
by
Special
Agents
of the |