Former City of Dearborn Employee Charged with Accepting Bribes

Wanda J. Smith, 42, former employee of the City of Dearborn Building and Safety Department was charged by information today with accepting bribes in return for issuing permits for work to be performed on residential property in the City of Dearborn.

United States Attorney Terrence G. 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.

The information charges that beginning in the summer of 2006 and continuing until March, 2009, Wanda J. Smith, while acting as an agent of the Permit Section of the City of Dearborn Building and Safety Department, accepted bribes in return for issuing permits for work to be performed on residential properties located in the City of Dearborn. The information further charges that Smith received $5,000 or more during each of the three calendar years from 2006 through 2008.

Under the statute, Smith faces up to 10 years' imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

An information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.