State Rep. Brian Banks
Harper Woods State Rep. Brian Banks, who had eight prior felony convictions, pleaded guilty Monday in Wayne County Circuit Court to fraud for using false payroll records to obtain a $3,000 loan from a credit union, Fox 2 reports.
As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to resign from elected office and plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge, M.L Elrick reports. Three felony charges were dropped. Sentencing is set for Feb. 17.
That plea deal is distasteful to Michigan Radio commentator Jack Lesenberry, who says:
He used his seat as a plea-bargaining chip. . . . Banks will . . . receive a slap on the wrist and not serve any jail time. . . .
The moral of this story is that if you can get yourself elected to something, your office includes a get out of jail free card.
We might think about whether that’s the message we really want to send.
Banks read his resignation in court:
"To Speaker Tom Leonard and Democratic Leader Sam Singh, I Brian Banks, representative for the first House District, submit my letter of resignation from the House of Representatives. It has been my honor to serve the residents of the First District. This is effective today, Feb. 6, 2017."
Banks has eight felonies from 1998 to 2004, mostly for bouncing checks and credit card fraud, according to The Detroit News.
