Towing titan Gasper Fiore sentenced to 21 months in bribery scandal

PORT HURON, Mich. (WJBK) -
Gasper Fiore is often referred to as a towing titan. But prosecutors came to court ready to bestow a new nickname on him: The Baron of Bribery.

Fiore cut a deal to plead guilty to conspiring to bribe Clinton Township Trustee Dean Reynolds. 

Fiore, speaking in a soft voice belying his rough-neck image, told Judge Robert Cleland: "I know I committed a crime. and I'm ready for my sentence."

Prosecutors recommended no leniency, saying FBI agents have known about Fiore's widespread bribery for decades. 

Fiore was facing a maximum sentence of only 21 months, because he agreed to help the feds catch other crooks.

Cleland gave Fiore the full 21 months, faulting him for not changing his ways from the Kwame Kilpatrick days.

"There was no recoiling here," Cleland said. "Mr. Fiore was happy to be part of expanding that to Macomb County."

So far, about two dozen public officials and businessmen have pleaded guilty to public corruption charges in the feds' wide-ranging investigation.

Fiore may be the biggest prize yet. Prosecutors called him "an enemy of honest government in Detroit."