Patrick Wimberly
FOX 2 - The former mayor of the City of Inkster was sentenced to 24 months in prison announced the US Attorney's Office Eastern District of Michigan Friday.
The backstory:
Patrick Wimberly, 51, of Inkster, pleaded guilty last September to demanding $100,000 in bribe payments.
Wimberly served as mayor from 2019 to 2023.
Prosecutors say in the spring of 2022, Wimberly demanded $100,000 in cash payments to facilitate the sale of property owned by the City to an outside party.
Over several months, Wimberly was given monthly cash bribes to facilitate the sale of the property.
The bribes started at $5,000 a month but Wimberly complained wanting an increase, investigators said.
"Person A did not move to increase the bribe payments immediately, leading Wimberly to complain that he was due '10 a month,'" according to a release from the US Attorney's Office Eastern District of Michigan.
As requested, the bribes went up to $10,000 a month and in total, "Person A" provided $50,000 in cash to Wimberly for the purpose of winning the bid for Parcel 1 - owned by the City.
The FBI intervened before the property could be transferred to Person A.
"We know that an honest leader gives stability to his city and one who is greedy for bribes tears it down," said said US Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon. "Mr. Wimberly dishonored his office so that he could line his pockets. And we will not let crooked politicians undermine our local government,"
The Source: Information for this story is from the US Attorney's Office Eastern District of Michigan.