Former City Official Pleads Guilty to Bribery Scheme Related to Sale of Camp Brighton

Kandia N. Milton, 38, of Detroit, former Liaison to City Council for the Mayor of Detroit, and later Deputy Mayor, pled guilty today before United States District Judge Gerald Rosen to participating in a bribery scheme, United States Attorney Terrence Berg announced today. Berg was joined in the announcement by Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent In Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to the charges in the Information and the facts stipulated in the written plea agreement, in 2006 and 2007, in exchange for $50,000, Milton and co-defendant Jerry Rivers, a former police officer, assisted a non-profit entity in purchasing property from the City of Detroit – namely, a 160-acre campsite in Livingston County called Camp Brighton/Detroit Recreation Camp. Milton and another city official (described in court documents as City Official D) used their positions in the city administration to move forward consideration of the sale of Camp Brighton to the non-profit entity for $3.5 million. On November 9, 2006, the City’s Planning & Development Department recommended that the City Council approve the sale. On June 27, 2007, the City Council, by a five-to-four vote, approved the sale. After the sale closed, the $50,000 payment from the non-profit entity was divided roughly as follows: $20,000 to Milton; $20,000 to Rivers; and $10,000 to City Official D. A middleman was recruited to accept the money from the Non-Profit Entity because they did not want the money to go directly to themselves.

United States Attorney Berg said: "As a high-level public official for Detroit, Mr. Milton owed the people a duty to execute his office with integrity, untainted by receiving bribes or under the table payments in exchange for his official actions. All public officials owe this same duty. This case marks the eighth such bribery-related conviction obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office this year. I commend the hardworking federal prosecutors and investigators who have devoted much time and effort to bringing these cases successfully to justice."

Special Agent Arena stated, “Detroit has a right to expect honest services from both city employees and elected officials. This investigation further demonstrates the FBI's commitment in investigating one its highest priorities, public corruption, and bringing those who betray the public's trust to justice.”

Milton was released on bond pending his sentencing. He was referred to the United States Probation Department for a presentence investigation. Milton faces a statutory maximum sentence of up to five years in prison or a fine of $250,000, or both. A sentencing date was set for March 18, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, the parties agreed that the sentence would not exceed 46 months in prison. The agreement also provided that Mr. Milton would cooperate in the government’s continuing investigation of others, and that he could be eligible to receive a sentence reduction if his cooperation is deemed to be substantial assistance under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

The investigation of this case is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Chutkow and R. Michael Bullotta.