Former City Official Pleads Guilty to Bribery Scheme Related to Sales of Camp Brighton and 8th Precinct

February 3, 2010 - DeDan C. Milton, 37, of Detroit, former Executive Assistant to the former Mayor of Detroit, pleaded guilty today before United States District Judge Gerald Rosen to participating in a bribery scheme, United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced today. McQuade 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 indictment, facts stipulated in the written plea agreement, and other court documents, in 2006 and 2007, in exchange for $50,000, DeDan Milton, Kandia Milton (the Liaison to City Council for the former Mayor), and 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. DeDan and Kandia Milton 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. After the sale closed, the $50,000 payment from the non-profit entity was divided roughly as follows: $10,000 to DeDan Milton; $20,000 to Kandia Milton; and $20,000 to Rivers. 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.

The indictment and plea agreement also indicate that in 2006, DeDan and Kandia Milton helped Rivers facilitate the sale of the City of Detroit’s 8th Precinct police station, located at West Grand River and McNichols Roads, to a developer. In February 2007, after the sale closed, Rivers gave the Miltons each about $6,000 in cash for their help.

United States Attorney McQuade said, “This guilty plea and cooperation agreement are a significant step in our march forward against public corruption in our community.”

Special Agent Arena stated, “This investigation demonstrates the FBI's commitment in investigating public corruption on every level. Public corruption is a top criminal priority of the FBI and will not be tolerated. The FBI will continue to aggressively investigate those who betray the public's trust.”

DeDan Milton is 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.

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.