Politics

What's This Man Hiding? Councilman Leland Takes the Fifth in Deposition

June 09, 2018, 1:40 AM by  Allan Lengel

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Councilman Gabe Leland

There's plenty questions surrounding Detroit City Councilman Gabe Leland.

For a while, he was dating Jennifer Fiore, daughter of crooked businessman and towing king Gasper Fiore, who  pleaded guilty to bribing a Macomb County official. Jennifer Fiore is a lawyer and executive in some of the Fiore family's companies.

While dating, Leland voted for at least four contract extensions or amendments for Fiore family companies worth $2 million, according to a Fox 2 report. Gasper Fiore has companies that the city paid to remove snow from city streets, tow cars and lease property to the Detroit Police Department.

Then in December news surfaced that his name was in a federal wiretap document containing a list of “target subjects” in a public corruption probe.

In March, Robert Carmack, owner of a car repair shop on Detroit's near west side, filed a lawsuit against Leland alleging he demanded $15,000 for his re-election campaign weeks before the August 2017 primary in exchange for a political favor. Carmack alleges he delivered $7,500 in cash to a Leland campaign worker. 

Carmack was involved in a property dispute with the city and Leland promised to settle if money was paid, the lawsuit alleges. Carmack claimed he owned the property, but the city was trying to sell it to somebody else.

On Thursday, Leland invoked the 5th Amendment multiple times during a deposition involving Carmack's lawsuit, according to Jennifer Chambers and Robert Snell of the Detroit News. 

According to 15-minute portion of Leland's deposition obtained by The Detroit News, Leland said he knew Carmack and was introduced to him in 2014.

But when Carmack's attorney Andrew Paterson asked Leland if he had ever spoken to Carmack about a property on Michigan Avenue or if he ever asked Carmack for $15,000, Leland declined to answer, the News reports.

"I refuse to answer the question based on my 5th Amendment rights," Leland said.

 


Read more:  Detroit News


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