Alonzo Bates pleads guilty to misdemeanors
The Free Press reported today that former Detroit councilman Alonzo Bates pleaded guilty on four misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file federal income tax returns from 2001-2004.
Bates, who was on the Detroit City Council from 2002-2005, made the plea today right before jury selection began on the federal fraud charges he is facing; he did not plead guilty to the federal charges, which allege that he created “ghost employees” by putting friends and family members on the city’s payroll, even though they performed little or no work for the city. Three of these alleged “ghost employees” have pleaded guilty to charges in the case.
According to an article on the same topic in the Detroit News, Bates worked for the Detroit Recreation Department for 27 years and served on the Detroit Public School board for 20 years.
it’s this sort of history that has Detroit in the shape it’s in today. so much of this has gone on for so long it’s ridiculous. how about the women who was in charge of the voting system and claimed it was flawless until she was defeated then demanded a recount? i heard that the person that replaced her found thousands of “registered voters” on file that were either dead or had moved but were still voting. i’m affraid this is just the tip of the iceberg. it’s nice that it seems like it’s starting to reform a little bit, though.
Max, you’re speaking of Jackie Curry and you’re absolutely right. However, I fear this is just the tip of the iceberg of political corruption in this city ( see Bobby Ferguson, et al )