Detroit Towing Corruption

Introduction

I worked as an auditor for the City of Detroit’s Office of the Auditor General from 1999–2005. Joseph Harris was the Auditor General and my boss.

I audited the City of Detroit’s police authorized towing in 2003. Our audit found and reported that the police authorized towing in Detroit was poorly managed and that there was widespread corruption. Certain police officers, City Councilmembers, towing company owners, and Mayor Kilpatrick participated in the corruption.

Detroit has a long and tired history of public corruption in its police authorized towing operations. After testifying at a Detroit City Council hearing on towing in the 1960s, a police official responsible for City towing operations jokingly asked reporters: “If you were on the beat like me, wouldn’t you be tempted to take payoffs from the Mafia?” He also said he, “wondered why Elliot Ness died so poor. Look at all the opportunities he had to make money.”[1] The official told the Councilmembers that some tow truck operators cruise the streets late at night, pick up cars they think are abandoned, and then scrap them, all without any police authorization. But he said after the meeting that these operators — whom he called “hawks” or “midnight requisitioners”- really didn’t get very many cars and that he mentioned them at the Council meeting “to cover our tracks.”

It was no coincidence that Detroit had high numbers of car-jackings, auto thefts, and insurance frauds; and a mismanaged and corrupt towing process all of which contributed to the exorbitant auto insurance rates in the City.

Certain towing company owners and their related auto collision and repair shops, auto part stores, and used car dealers were unjustly enriched through their corrupt police authorized towing activities.

We found vehicle owners were overcharged for towing and storage rates. Some lost their vehicles because they couldn’t afford the towing and storage fees. Some even lost their jobs because they no longer had transportation to get to work.

Insurance companies paid excessive towing and storage fees for recovered stolen vehicles that they insured. In addition, they paid for the cost to replace parts stolen from vehicles and repairs for damages to vehicles done by some unscrupulous towers. They passed these costs onto Detroiters in the form of higher insurance rates. As a result, many Detroiters could not afford auto insurance and went without.

The Detroit Police Department (DPD) was overcharged for the evidence lot it rented from a tower. In addition, certain towers cheated the City out of proceeds from police auctions of vehicles recovered by the towers.

Gasper Fiore was the main police authorized tower in the City and a participant in the corruption. Although his corrupt activities in Detroit police authorized towing were well known he was never criminally charged for those activities. On December 20, 2017, he pled guilty to conspiring to commit bribery, in connection with a municipal towing contract in Clinton Township.[2] Fiore admitted at the plea hearing that he conspired to pay bribes to a Clinton Township Trustee in order to obtain a municipal towing contract with the township. He went to prison for that offense.

I also worked for the Detroit City Council’s Legislative Policy Division from 2015–2020. I worked for those Councilmembers implicated in the current towing corruption recently reported by the local news media. It saddens me to see that the corruption in the DPD’s police authorized towing operations has not stopped. Prior to being implicated in the recent towing corruption, I thought these Councilmembers were great leaders and had integrity.

Our democracy is undermined by public corruption. The power vested in the people is usurped by corrupt public servants and businessmen who enrich themselves at the expense of the people.

Detroit Towing Corruption

The Auditor General was responsible for setting towing and storage rates for police authorized towing in the City of Detroit. In 2002 Harris was being pressured by police authorized towers (PATs), especially Gasper Fiore to raise towing and storage rates. Towing rates were $75 for a tow and $8 per day for storage (storage was not charged for the first three days). These rates had been set in 1996. Allegations were made that Fiore received an unfair share of the police authorized towing in the City. In addition, allegations were made that police officials and officers were improperly involved with some towers. Harris decided to conduct an audit and I was chosen to do it. I started the audit in early 2003 and worked most of the year on it.

The Detroit Police Department authorized towing for evidentiary purposes, removal of abandoned vehicles, safeguarding of recovered stolen vehicles, forfeitures of vehicles for OTE (Offer to Engage — e.g., Prostitution), narcotics violations, parking violations, removal of road hazards, and other reasons such as driving under the influence, arrests and accidents where the vehicle owner was incapacitated. There were 30 towing companies that the DPD used in 2003. The distribution of police authorized towing to the various companies was based on a rotational system which was supposed to be fair and equitable.

One of the objectives of police authorized towing was to safeguard citizen’s vehicles. The goal was that vehicles be returned to the owner in no worse condition then it was when recovered by the tower.

The City did not directly pay the towers. The towers collected towing and storage fees directly from vehicle owners and insurance companies.

I first met Gasper Fiore at his property on Vinewood on Detroit’s Southwest side. He wasn’t happy with the audit. He was not tall but he was solidly built and was intimidating. He was a hard worker and was very much involved in his business operations. He even drove a tow truck at times. Fiore and his companies were effective and provided the DPD and Michigan State Police (MSP) with good towing services.

Our audit confirmed many of the allegations and found serious problems with Detroit’s police authorized towing. It appeared that some towers were contributing to the City’s stolen car problem. Insurance companies were cheated by some towers for excessive storage and towing fees. Other types of insurance fraud such as stealing auto parts were common. The City was charged excessive rent for its vehicle evidence lot. The City was shortchanged amounts due from auction sales by some of the towers. The police had little control over towing and the PATs, especially Gasper Fiore, who had too much control. There were conflicts of interests with police officials and officers working for the towers, especially Fiore. Huge campaign contributions were made by Fiore and others to influence City leaders.

Detroit’s auto insurance premiums were among the highest in the country. Auto insurance premiums to Detroiters were as high as $4–5,000 annually in 2003. Detroiters paid the high cost of the insurance or they went without insurance.

The recovery of stolen vehicles was a major reason for a high percentage of police authorized tows. They were towed for evidence or for safekeeping. These tows were lucrative to towing companies because in many cases the vehicles were damaged or parts were stripped and the vehicle usually required a second tow at a much higher towing fee to a repair facility. Also, the towing company was more likely to be paid for the towing and storage fees because most of these vehicles had some value to the owner or insurance company.

The DPD was finding a large number of stolen vehicles at the towing company’s storage lots that were not properly recovered. As a result, vehicle owners and insurance companies were not notified in a timely manner of the recovery of their vehicles and insurance companies were paying out higher claim settlements to vehicle owners for higher storage fees and damages.

The DPD Auction Unit recovered 789 stolen vehicles at the PAT storage lots in 2002 when they went to process the vehicles for auction. The Auction Unit had to recover them and process them as abandoned vehicles. Until a vehicle was properly recovered by the police there was no way to officially determine what damage was done to the vehicle or what was missing prior to the recovery. This gave unscrupulous towers the opportunity to take parts off vehicles. Also any evidence value was lost. Many stolen vehicles were impounded without being properly processed by the DPD.

Insurance companies paid off claims for stolen vehicles to vehicle owners when a vehicle wasn’t recovered in a reasonable period. Usually within 30 days of the reported theft. The delayed recovery of stolen vehicles by the DPD contributed to the insurance companies’ claim losses and costs which were passed on to Detroiters in the form of higher insurance rates.

It is interesting to note that in May 2019, the Detroit News ran a story of the decrease in auto thefts in the City[3]. The article stated:

“Auto thefts in the city have declined sharply over the past two years, according to police statistics — a decrease Detroit police officials attribute to the city banning a company from the towing rotation and assuming most towing duties.

From January-March 2017, before city officials suspended Nationwide Recovery Inc. from the police towing rotation, police officials say there were 1,987 auto thefts in Detroit. Nationwide was suspended in July 2017. From January-March 2019, there were 1,379 auto thefts, a 31% drop, according to police data.

‘DPD understands that correlation does not necessarily equate to causation,’ Detroit deputy corporate counsel Chuck Raimi said in a statement. ‘But since Nationwide’s activities were shut down, DPD has noted a measurable reduction in auto thefts.’”

Also, during this time towing companies associated with Fiore were suspended from doing business with the City, and the DPD had taken over some of the police towing in the City.

Corruption and problems with Police Authorized towing go way back in Detroit’s history. Organized crime figures were involved in the 1960s with police towing companies. Police officers had interests in towing companies. Throughout the City’s history police officials and officers were paid off by or had some conflict of interest with the police authorized towers.

In 1991 George Hacquebart, a former member of the DPD’s Auto Recovery Bureau (ARB), admitted that while he was a police officer he was co-owner of a private wrecking firm authorized to tow away vehicles the ARB decided were abandoned. Hacquebart also admitted that in 1968 he sold his one-half interest in Kercheval Used Auto Parts and Wrecking Co. (Kercheval) to Peter Cilluffo, then under indictment by a federal grand jury for conspiring with an alleged Mafia boss, Matthew (Mike) Rubino.[4]

State incorporation records show that Cilluffo and Hacquebart became co-owners of the firm — each owning 5,000 of its 10,000 shares — in October 1967. Hacquebart said his stock was later held by his wife.

Hacquebart said that after he became a co-owner, the Police Department authorized Kercheval to tow away abandoned vehicles for a fee. Asked if he saw any conflict of interest in his dual role as part owner of a firm involved in auto towing and as a policeman in the Auto Recovery Bureau, Hacquebart said: “But John Nichols and city attorneys knew all about it.”

Nichols, Detroit’s police commissioner, was appointed superintendent of the DPD a few months after Hacquebart became a part owner of Kercehval. “I don’t recall”, Nichols said when asked if he knew of Hacquebart’s ownership. But Nichols said, it “possibly could be true” that he knew at the time of Hacquebart’s involvement in the firm. Nichols also said: “If city attorneys didn’t see it as a conflict of interest, why should I?”

Detroit residents complained that Kercheval towed their automobiles from in front of their homes even though the cars were in working order and were not abandoned. It was up to the discretion of individual ARB policemen under City ordinances to decide which automobiles were “abandoned” and ought to be towed away and which were not. The complaining citizens had to pay the company, towing and storage fees to get their cars back or let the firm scrap and sell them.

Kercheval was later owned by John Soave, an ex-felon who concealed his record from the police when applying for a wrecking license. City ordinances required disclosure of such information. John Soave was Anthony Soave’s brother. Anthony Soave was a very successful businessman in Detroit and had large contracts with the City for trash hauling and water and sewer projects. He also owned scrap metal businesses, which processed abandoned vehicles from some of the police authorized towing companies. Anthony Soave was also an important witness for the prosecution in the trial of former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

One of the two policemen who approved, in writing, John Soave’s application for a license was Detective John Urish, who was indicted by a Wayne County citizens Grand Jury in May 1971 for accepting a bribe. The alleged bribe was in return for getting charges dropped in a fraudulent car purchase case in 1965.

Hacquebart, who retired from the DPD in August, 1969, said he sold his Kercheval stock to Cilluffo in March or April of 1968. Cilluffo had been indicted by a federal grand jury in 1966 on charges of conspiring with Rubino to run an illegal gambling operation. Charges against Cilluffo were dismissed in June, 1968, by the U.S. District Judge. Rubino had been identified as a Mafia leader by former Detroit Police Commissioner George Edwards at a U.S. Senate Crime Committee hearing in 1963. John Soave said he bought out Cilluffo’s interest in Kercheval in 1969.[5]

Some of the police authorized towing company owners also owned auto part stores, collision and car repair businesses, and used car dealerships. The concern with towing company owners also having collision and auto repair businesses, especially with the lack of police controls over reporting impounds, were that parts could be stripped from the towed vehicles and sold or used for repairs of the same vehicle. An insurance fraud was perpetrated in New York where police authorized towers had vehicles stolen and would strip them of parts and leave them abandoned on the street and report the vehicle to the Police Department. They would get the tow authorization from the Police Department. They would convince the vehicle owner to use their body shop or the body shop they were working with and put the vehicle back together. Insurance carriers would be charged for the parts or repairs.

Many of the vehicles we saw at one tower’s lot were missing batteries, backends, lights, windshields, bumpers, and other parts. We observed one red pickup that was stripped of the engine, rear window, and door panels. It appeared that many vehicles were stripped for parts. There was a high risk that vehicles could be stripped of parts to meet the needs of the repair businesses.

The Detroit News reported that fifty stolen Ford 250, 350, and 450 pickup trucks were recovered at that same tower’s lot by the DPD in late 2004. A tow truck driver was charged with the theft. We found a stripped Ford 350 at the lot during our audit in early 2003. We noted that it appeared vehicles were being stripped of parts.[6]

In June 2017 the Detroit News reported that:

“There was a FBI probe in 2016 in which six DPD cops were suspended. In that case the suspended officers were accused of taking bribes from an undisclosed tow company owner in exchange for funneling work, including towing stolen cars, to the firm. The source said the scam also involved two Wayne County collision shops that allegedly stripped stolen vehicles and collected thousands of dollars from insurance companies for unnecessary repairs.

Officers in the Abandoned Vehicle Unit troll the city for stolen or abandoned vehicles. When they find one, they are supposed to alert dispatch, which assigns one of 23 authorized tow companies to pick it up, depending on where the vehicle was found and which firm is next on the rotation list. The source said the suspended officers didn’t alert dispatch, but instead called one tow company to pick up the vehicles. The tow company usually paid the officers between $50 and $100 cash for each car towed.

Officers would look for vehicles with minimal damage, such as ignition switch damage or missing tires, the source said. The tow company would then tell the owner their stolen vehicle had been recovered with unspecified damage, and that the tow firm worked with a collision shop that would waive the deductible for repairing it. If the owner agreed to have the work done at that collision shop, employees then would strip vehicles of their motors, transmissions and other major parts without the owners’ knowledge. When a claims adjuster for the owner’s insurance company saw the stripped vehicle, thousands of dollars in damages would be assessed.

The collision shop owner would collect the money; put the parts back on the vehicle and do the minor repairs for the original damage before telling the owner to pick up the vehicle. The owners were never aware of the scheme, the source said.”[7]

Corruption of police officers and public officials and racketeering in police authorized towing occurred in New York, New York, Providence, Rhode Island, Washington, D.C., and other cities in the country. In New York and Washington D.C. police authorized towers stole vehicles and automobile parts, and participated in insurance fraud. Involvement of organized crime was suspected in New York.

Some State and Detroit police officers were aiding and abetting the towers. Many had businesses or relatives in the towing or related businesses such as auto parts, collision shops and real estate. Some were just paid off or given benefits such as cell phones or used cars.

A DPD Facilities Management police officer told us an officer of the 9th precinct received a free cell phone from one of Fiore’s companies. In addition, we were told that some of the officers at the ninth precinct were given deals on cars by Fiore. However, the officer would not reveal any names. One towing company owner told us that he would give police officers a Nextel cell phone with 200 minutes per month to call him for tows.

A Sergeant of DPD’s Commercial Auto Theft Unit (CATS) told us that many repair shops received stolen parts. He said they were the weak link. CATS focused on repair shops to find stolen vehicles. Older cars were being stolen because of the demand for their parts.

Also, police officers that were not corrupt but were poorly trained or who just didn’t care, contributed to the abuses in towing by not properly following procedures such as filling out impound cards properly or reporting tows to the DPD’s Telephone Crime Reporting Unit (TCRU). They cost the towers storage fees if they failed to report the vehicle as impounded. Some of the towers would use the sloppy work to justify overcharging storage fees and other abuses and fraud committed.

Gasper Fiore owned 7 of the City’s 30 police authorized towing companies in 2002 and 2003. He made the majority of the tows for the City. The City also leased buildings and other properties owned by Fiore companies including the evidence lot, which he overcharged the City.

Gasper Fiore acquired a significant amount of the police authorized towing business in the City of Detroit from 2001–2003. During this time he contributed to the political campaigns of Gil Hill and other City Councilmembers. Later he was a heavy contributor to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. He had associations through employment of or business relationships with former police officers such as the former Deputy Chief of the Management Services Bureau (MSB), who was responsible for the towing process. Fiore and his wife created numerous businesses related to towing, auto repair, real estate, and used auto sales.

The DPD Deputy Chief associated with Fiore signed the police authorized towing contracts in November 2001, after former City Councilman Hill lost the election to Mayor Kilpatrick. Fiore provided large campaign contributions to Gil Hill for Mayor.

Gil Hill was best known for his acting, as Inspector Todd, the tough no-nonsense boss of Axel Foley, played by Eddie Murphy in the Beverly Hills Cop movies. Hill’s campaign headquarters was at Fiore’s business on 2411 Vinewood. Hill had a great influence on the DPD as President of City Council and being a former Police Commander to obtain preferential treatment for Fiore’s towing businesses during the period 1999–2001. Also, Fiore’s employees provided significant campaign contributions to Hill. Other towing company owners also contributed significant amounts to Gil Hill’s campaign.[8]

After Hill lost it appeared the Deputy Chief and others hurried to ensure Fiore was contracted with the majority of towing in the City before Kilpatrick took office in January 2002. The evidence lot leased by Fiore’s real estate company began operating around October 2001. The Deputy Chief appears to have provided preferential treatment to Fiore prior to the change in administration to ensure Fiore retained his towing empire. The new contracts were signed two weeks after the election in which Gil Hill lost.

The new contracts were for a term of approximately 3 and ½ years (November 2001 to March 2005), which essentially guaranteed Fiore with an unfair majority of the towing business in the City well into the next Mayor’s first term. The old contracts/letter of understanding had a term of 1 year.

Fiore and other Fiore associates provided Councilwoman Alberta Tinsley-Talabi with campaign funds two days before a Council hearing brought by Talabi to review towing rates circumventing the Towing Commission headed by the Auditor General. Tinsley-Talabi reported the campaign contributions from them totaling $10,500 received on November 12 and 13 of 2002, just before Talabi arranged for the November 15, 2002 City Council hearing on tow rates. We could find no other contributions from Fiore or the others to Talabi prior to November 2002.

It appeared that Fiore and his associates were contributing to Tinsley-Talabi’s campaign to use her influence to increase the towing and storage rates. The Auditor General as head of the Towing Commission was responsible, for reviewing the towing rates at least once every two years and submitting its recommendation to City Council by October first of the year of review.

At the City Council meeting, Councilmembers Tinsley-Talabi and Kay Everett were supportive of Fiore. Everett ripped into Harris and gave him a hard time. She was critical of his actions on police authorized towing. At other City Council hearings on police authorized towing, Kay Everett was a big supporter of Gasper Fiore. At one hearing she said his acquisition of towing companies was good business and the American way.

Joe Harris wrote:

“At a recent city council discussion, I was chastised by a few councilmembers who appeared to be overly supporting a vendor who, in my opinion, was ripping off the city. My suspicions about the relationships were verified when I reviewed the campaign contribution documents of one of the councilmembers.[9] Although I have not used this newly found information in any of my reports. I do intend to keep it in my arsenal.”

In a letter to City Council dated October 8, 2003, Joe Harris wrote:

“I believed when I decided to conduct the audit, that there were two major elements to consider to wit; the Police Department and the Police authorized towing companies. However, another element has been introduced. One that I have never had to consider in my previous seven years as the City’s Auditor General…an attempt by certain City Councilmembers to intimidate, alter or otherwise affect the authority of the Auditor General. In my opinion, certain Councilmembers have been less than fair and objective in their dealings with the Auditor General, and in their inequitable support of the obstinate towers. One Councilmember berated me for expressing concern about improper conduct by Mr. Fiore, and refused to let me respond to her, as she chaired the Council meeting. Another Councilmember has expressed a desire to remove the Auditor General from the Towing Commission. Both Councilmembers considered my description of the relationship between Mr. Fiore and certain City officials as disrespectful to the City Council.”[10]

Fiore’s towing companies used the State police to recover many of the stolen vehicles it found. They did this to circumvent the City’s limit of $75 per tow and $8 per day storage fee beginning on the fourth day. When the Michigan State Police (MSP) recovered the vehicle Fiore’s companies charged the vehicle owner or insurance company $165 to $175 per tow and $12 per day storage starting on the first day.

An employee of a Fiore towing company told us that they will have the MSP recover vehicles because they get a better tow and storage fee. He said it was common sense. He asked, “Wouldn’t you do the same?”

The lease for the evidence lot and building on it between the DPD and the Realty Company, a Fiore controlled company, was questionable. There appeared to have been no attempt to request proposals for the lease and diligently negotiate a fair lease in the best interests of the DPD. In addition, the amount of the lease appeared excessive.

The square footage that the lease was based on was overstated. We measured the square footage of the building along with officers from the DPD Facilities Division and found the square footage overstated by at least 6,906 square feet resulting in an extra $54,496 cost per year.

We contacted real estate companies and found that the lease square footage rate was excessive for an industrial building located in that area. The lease rate of $6.53 per square foot was excessive compared to the market rate for similar industrial buildings which had a lease market rate of $2.90 — $4.00 per square foot. Consequently, the DPD may have been overcharged as much as $150,000 per year on the lease.

A Fiore associate in towing and other businesses, pled guilty to money laundering charges in the 1992 Wolverine Golf Club gambling case brought by the federal government. Alleged mobsters such as the Lucidos and associates of the Giacalones were involved in this case.[11] In addition, the Fiore associate was implicated in an extortion attempt by a Warren City councilman to allegedly gain a towing contract from Warren.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was interested in Gasper Fiore at the time of our audit. I provided them with my notes and a draft report much different from the report the Auditor General officially issued. We had provided the same information to Chief of Police Ella Bully Cummings. Apparently, the DPD ignored it. The Detroit police authorized towing abuses continued. As it turned out Fiore was heavily invested in Mayor Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick’s trial would reveal the relationship.

Gasper Fiore was on the government witness list in the corruption trial of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. According to court records, Fiore alleged Kilpatrick and his friend, contractor Bobby Ferguson, extorted tens of thousands of dollars from him in connection with City business.[12]

Count Twelve of the indictment of the United States Vs Kwame M. Kilpatrick and Bobby W. Ferguson

Stated:

“From about February 2003 until about June 2008, Bobby W. Ferguson and KWAME M. KILPATRICK, aiding and abetting each other, did knowingly and unlawfully obstruct, delay and affect interstate commerce through extortion, in that FERGUSON and KILPATRICK obtained more than $90,000 from a towing contractor [Gasper Fiore], with the consent of the Towing Contractor induced by wrongful fear of economic harm and under color of official right.”[13]

In the Court filing it was noted:

“As Mayor of Detroit KWAME KILPATRICK had responsibility over the Detroit Police Department and its towing contracts, including towing contracts belonging to the Towing Contractor; In or about February 2003, at the direction of members of the Kilpatrick Enterprise, an associate of KWAME KILPATRICK obtained about $9,000 cash from the Towing Contractor; In or about July 2004, the Towing Contractor gave $25,000 to a political Action Committee (“PAC”) with instructions that the PAC give the money to KWAME KILPATRICK’s campaign, the PAC gave the Towing Contractor’s $25,000 to KILPATRICK’s campaign that same month; In or about 2005, FERGUSON directed the Towing Contractor to give $9,500 cash to FERGUSON; the Towing Contractor complied in order to prevent FERGUSON from using his influence with KWAME KILPATRICK to adversely affect the Towing Contractor’s business with the Detroit Police Department; On or about May 25, 2005, KWAME KILPATRICK directed a high level member of the Detroit Police Department to meet with the Towing Contractor to review the Towing Contractor’s proposal to manage all the towing for the Police Department; In or about October 2005, KWAME KILPATRICK through his subordinates, directed high level members of the Detroit Police Department to add several of the Towing Contractor’s companies to Police Department tow lists, resulting in increased business for the Towing Contractor; In about May 2008, FERGUSON directed the Towing Contractor to give him $100,000; the Towing Contractor, fearing that FERGUSON might use his influence with KWAME KILPATRICK to adversely affect the Towing Contractor’s business with the Detroit Police Department, gave FERGUSON $50,000 in about June 2008, which FERGUSON shared with KWAME KILPATRICK.”[14]

Kilpatrick’s response to our audit and reports was to give Fiore a larger share of the police authorized towing in exchange for bribes and campaign contributions. The government used this against Kilpatrick to charge him with extortion even though it was Fiore’s business practice to bribe political leaders and public officials.

At a Court hearing held on August 14, 2012, Kilpatrick raised a potential conflict of interest. Kilpatrick requested that two of his appointed counsel, Jim Thomas and Michael Naughton, be disqualified and that new counsel be appointed because (1) Thomas previously represented Gasper Fiore, who was the “Towing Contractor” described in the Fourth Superseding Indictment, and (2) Thomas and Naughton have an “of counsel” relationship with O’Reilly Rancilio P.C., the law firm that currently represents the plaintiffs in a civil suit against Kilpatrick and others. The judge denied Kwame Kilpatrick’s request for new appointed counsel.

The Court agreed with the government on the Gasper Fiore conflict. The conflict of interest arising out of defense counsel’s Jim Thomas’s successive representation of Fiore and Kwame Kilpatrick was eliminated by the government’s commitment to dismiss all allegations related to Gasper Fiore and representation that they would not call him as a witness in their case.

Kilpatrick confirmed to the Court that he had no “separate reason apart from the [Fiore] conflict” to request that Thomas withdraw. Kilpatrick told the Court that he “love[d]” Thomas, and had been “trying to figure out some other way [to get rid of the Fiore conflict] without getting rid of [Thomas] and not having an independent counsel.”

In his affidavit, Kilpatrick claimed that he did not fully appreciate the significance of the Fiore conflict, but conceded that he signed a conflict waiver in this case in January 2011 acknowledging that he was “aware of the potential for conflict” arising from Thomas’s prior representation of Fiore. The Judge concluded that “Kilpatrick’s attempt to turn Fiore into a recent revelation that has created a complete breakdown of the attorney/client relationship lacked credibility.”[15]

The government let Fiore off to get Kilpatrick. They were using him as a witness against Kilpatrick. Because Thomas, Kilpatrick’s attorney also represented Fiore and Kilpatrick raised the conflict of interest, the charges of Kilpatrick extorting Fiore were dropped and he was not called as a witness at the trial.

The Detroit News reported on June 16, 2017 that, “Fiore was charged with bribery conspiracy in Macomb County in June 2017. Detroit police officers were recorded on wiretaps discussing unspecified illegal activity connected to Fiore’s towing operations sources told the Detroit News. Fiore was one of 12 people charged in the case.[16]

The Detroit Board of Police Commissioners voted to suspend Fiore’s tow permit and remove the six towing companies he owned from the Department’s tow rotations. Detroit Police Chief James Craig said the City was working to rescind leases of the two southwest Detroit properties owned by Fiore: 2121 Fort, where vehicle impounds were stored and which housed other units, including the laboratory that tested narcotics, and 7800 Dix, where the Commercial Auto Theft Unit was located. Craig said, “With the indictment (of Fiore), we’re taking steps to get out of those properties…”

The Detroit News reported:

“The Board of Police Commissioners voted 9–0 to pull Fiore’s towing permit, ending more than a decade of controversy. The city’s business deals with Fiore were called into question in a series of 2005 audits that found former police officials gave an inordinate amount of towing business to Fiore, in violation of the towing rules, and awarded Fiore no bid leases and overpaid for his buildings that were used for police operations…

Harris’ audits suggested that Detroit retool its towing operation, but when the police board began restructuring the process in 2009, accusations of intimidation, stalking and corruption began to fly. Ex-Commissioner Michael Reeves filed a police report in September 2010 claiming he was threatened to refrain from voting on the proposed rules. Ex-Commissioner Jerome Warfield said at the May 5, 2011, board meeting that he had been followed.

Fiore was indicted May 31, 2017 on federal bribery charges for allegedly paying $7,000 in cash bribes to Clinton Township Trustee Dean Reynolds for help in securing a towing contract. The U.S. Department of Justice charged Fiore and Reynolds with multiple counts of bribery related offenses in connection with a towing contract.”[17]

Soon after Gasper Fiore’s indictment, the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners, the Michigan State Police, and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office all suspended or terminated their towing contracts with Fiore’s Boulevard & Trumbull Towing business. He lost his Courtesy Van contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). He provided the courtesy vans (Emergency Road Response) on freeways around metro Detroit. They helped stranded motorists, offering free services such as a gallon of gas, a battery jump, repair of a flat, or calling a tow truck.[18] Emergency Road Response was paid close to $2 million a year by MDOT to provide the roadside assistance. It was owned and operated by members of the Fiore family.

The City’s Law Department sued Fiore and his towing companies. The lawsuit alleged that Fiore, along with Emergency Road Response, Boulevard & Trumbull Towing, other Fiore companies, his ex-wife and his daughters conspired and committed fraud, tax evasion and other crimes against the City of Detroit and its residents.

Among the allegations in the City of Detroit lawsuit were:

· Gasper Fiore, as the head of Boulevard & Trumbull, attempted to make improper payments to an unnamed City official in order to get an unfair share of City towing business.

· The Fiores and their companies failed to file certain required City income tax returns, filed false returns that misreported income and have taken fictional deductions in exorbitant amounts, fraudulently diverting income from Boulevard & Trumbull and other Fiore firms to reduce their Detroit income tax liability.

· Fiore companies reported substantial gross receipts but declared losses or negligible profits for the past several years.

· Emergency Road Response and other Fiore companies used sham real estate leases and sham commercial vehicle leases in exorbitant amounts to divert significant amounts of income away from Boulevard & Trumbull.

· Boulevard & Trumbull, Emergency Road Response and other Fiore companies failed to withhold City income tax from its Detroit employees, as required.

· Gasper Fiore failed to file Detroit income tax returns between 2010 and 2016 and owed more than $45,500, plus penalties and interest.[19]

While Fiore admitted in Federal Court to bribing just one Macomb County official, the FBI said he was colluding for years with many, from State lawmakers to police officials to a Detroit City Councilmember [Leland] who was dating his daughter. The Detroit Free Press obtained a copy of the wiretap documents after they were briefly unsealed in a filing in U.S. District Court and quickly resealed.[20]

According to Court documents, the FBI claims Detroit police officers were involved in many of Fiore’s scams. For example, a Detroit police officer once joked with Fiore about taking bribes from one of Fiore’s towing competitors, records show. Fiore responded by telling the officer that he would turn him in to the police. The officer responded: “Oh man … you’d be right there with me.”[21]

Charlie Leduff wrote about Gasper Fiore:

“His life as an influence peddler and deal broker was exhausting, infested with a vomit of mooches, plate pickers, couch surfers, cheap suited councilmen and free drink Freddies.

Thumbing through sealed court documents obtained by Deadline Detroit after they were mistakenly unsealed before being resealed, a reader might realistically believe Fiore will be surrounded by a better class of people behind bars. Take the example of City Councilman Gabe Leland. He’s right there on page 56 of the transcripts. Leland dated Jennifer, one of Fiore’s daughters, while voting for a series of City contracts that made the family millions of dollars. His choice of women and his friendly vote notwithstanding, Fiore thought little of Leland…”

According to the documents, FBI agents believed Leland was a part time gofer of cash envelopes intended for Leland’s friend, who was doing ‘consulting’ work for Fiore. The amounts were laughably low. Fiore’s other daughter, Jessica, told her father how the consultant had come to her at the family’s towing garage, expecting to pick up an envelope containing $70. He drove away in a new Jaguar. When the man realized the envelope contained only $50, he incessantly called, bleating like a stuck goat that the envelope was $20 light. “This isn’t enough money,” he whined. Fiore then told his daughter the consultant tried to hit him up for an $800 rim for the Jaguar. “So why have a fucking car you know you can’t afford?” “They’re both mooches,” Fiore said…”[22]

On December 20, 2017, Gasper Fiore, 57, pled guilty to conspiring to commit bribery, in connection with a municipal towing contract in Clinton Township.[23] Fiore admitted at the plea hearing that he conspired to pay bribes to Clinton Township Trustee Dean Reynolds in order to obtain a municipal towing contract with the township. Fiore admitted to giving Reynolds cash bribes of $4,000 and $3,000 in March and May of 2016 in order to buy Reynolds’ vote to select Fiore’s company to receive the Clinton Township towing contract. Fiore paid the bribes to Reynolds through Charles B. Rizzo, who was cooperating with federal law enforcement at the time of the bribe payments. Rizzo, the former Chief Executive Officer of Rizzo Environmental Services, pleaded guilty to bribery and embezzlement charges on November 9, 2017.[24]

The prosecutors Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Bullotta and David Gardey wrote:

“Gasper Fiore, while a self-made businessman, is also a prolific bribe payer dating back to at least the administration of Kwame Kilpatrick. Investigations by the FBI over the past two decades revealed that there was virtually no public official whose palms Fiore wouldn’t try to grease if there was something in it for him or his business.”

“[Fiore] got preferential treatment in city towing matters because he was a big financial supporter of Kilpatrick.”

“For over a decade, Gasper Fiore has been an enemy of honest government in Detroit. His offense here is yet another example of his trading cash for contracts and corrupting an otherwise fair process.”

“Fiore bribed public officials in Metro Detroit for many years, persisting unfettered by the prison sentences of those around him whom he had paid off. Given this, he has richly earned a sentence of 21 months imprisonment.”[25]

Gasper Fiore was sentenced to 21 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release and a $10,000 fine based on his conviction for conspiracy to commit bribery.[26]

Information at the sentencing hearing revealed that besides his conviction for paying bribes to Reynolds, Fiore also paid bribes to former Detroit Deputy Chief of Police Celia Washington, other law enforcement officers, former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and former Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers.[27]

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) suspended Gasper Fiore owned and related companies from DPD towing in June 2018.[28] The OIG’s report stated “The towing companies related to Gasper Fiore were engaged in fraudulent, corrupt, unethical, and/or criminal behavior while acting as a towing contractor for the City of Detroit and DPD.”

On June 1, 2017, DPD Assistant Chief James White (AC White) appeared before the Board of Police Commissioners (BOPC) and expressed that DPD was “very concerned about how certain associations may affect the public’s trust in its police department.” He explained DPD was “of the opinion that the association with Boulevard & Trumbull Towing could be deleterious to the department’s image and may leave the department open to allegations, justified or not, with respect to its towing operations.”

On January 2, 2018, former Deputy Chief of Police and legal advisor to the Chief of Police, Celia Washington pled guilty to conspiring with Gasper Fiore to commit bribery, in connection with the corruption of towing permits in Detroit. According to the Department of Justice, Washington’s responsibilities included overseeing DPD’s permitting, licensing, and use of private tow companies. During her plea hearing, Washington admitted to accepting $3,000 in cash from Gasper Fiore. Washington admitted that she knew that Fiore was using the cash bribe to seek to influence her in the selection of tow rotations in the City of Detroit for his towing companies. When she accepted the bribe, Washington was aware Fiore was violating the City of Detroit’s rules prohibiting a tow company owner from having more than one company in the rotation for a particular police precinct or district. After she accepted the $3,000 cash bribe from Fiore, Washington assisted in issuing a police towing rotation list that continued to allow Fiore to violate the City’s towing rules and that significantly benefited his companies. Although Washington had claimed that the $3,000 in cash from Fiore was a loan, she admitted during her guilty plea that she kept the money and had spent some of it when she knew he was seeking to bribe her in connection with the City’s tow rotations.

During a special session, the City Council voted individually on appeals from the tow companies and their owners who wanted back into the Detroit police towing rotation, after being suspended. The City Council voted to uphold the bans on Fiore, his towing companies and certain of his associates from doing business with the City. Gabe Leland was noticeably absent from the voting[29]. Fiore and his best towing company were barred from doing business with the City for 20 years.[30]

In September 2021, Councilmember Andre Spivey pled guilty to conspiring with a member of his staff to commit bribery by accepting over $35,000 in bribe payments in connection with the City Council’s oversight of towing in Detroit.[31] Also, in September 2021, the FBI seized documents from two other Councilmembers allegedly related to the City’s towing process.

[1] Benjaminson Peter, “Ex-Policeman Bares Tow-Away Firm Link”, June 10, 1971, Detroit Free Press

[2] Department of Justice, “Towing Titan Gasper Fiore Pleads Guilty to Bribery”, December 20, 2017, Press Release

[3] Hunter George, “Detroit cops: Car thefts down since city banned towing firm”, May 8, 2019, Detroit News

[4] Benjaminson Peter, “Ex-Policeman Bares Tow-Away Firm Link”, June 10, 1971, Detroit Free Press

[5] Benjaminson Peter, “Ex-Policeman Bares Tow-Away Firm Link”, June 10, 1971, Detroit Free Press

[6] Drumb Richard, “RE Auto Thefts”, May 17, 2005, E-mail to Norm Sinclair, Detroit News

[7] Hunter George, “Feds probe Detroit police officers in towing scandal”, June 16, 2017, The Detroit News

[8] White Boy (2017), Documentary Directed by Shawn Rech, Produced by Transition Studios and Woodward Original, May 29, 2018

[9] Harris Joe, “Re: campaign funds and audits”, March 20, 2003 NALGA (National Association of Local Government Auditors)

[10] Harris Joe, “Audit of Police Authorized Towing Process/Ethical Concerns”, October 8, 2003, Letter to City Council

[11] Swickard Joe, “It all started with some $5s, 10s, and $20s…”, July 24, 1993, Detroit Free Press

[12] Egan Paul, “MDOT’s courtesy vans caught up in Fiore towing scandal; operator accused of fraud, evasion”, Paul Egan, Aug. 23, 2017, Detroit Free Press

[13] United States Vs Kwame M. Kilpatrick and Bobby M. Ferguson Indictment Count Twelve: (Interference with Commerce by extortion — Towing Contractor)

[14] United States Vs Kwame M. Kilpatrick and Bobby M. Ferguson Court Filing February 15, 2012, Page 13 of 15 Doc #74–1

[15] 2:10-cr-20403-NGE-MKM Doc # 199 Filed 08/15/12 OPINION AND ORDER REGARDING POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST RAISED BY DEFENDANT KWAME KILPATRICK

[16] Hunter George, “Feds probe Detroit police officers in towing scandal”, June 16, 2017, The Detroit News

[17] Hunter George, “Feds probe Detroit police officers in towing scandal”, June 16, 2017, The Detroit News

[18] Egan Paul, “MDOT’s courtesy vans caught up in Fiore towing scandal; operator accused of fraud, evasion”, Aug. 23, 2017, Detroit Free Press

[19] Egan Paul, “MDOT’s courtesy vans caught up in Fiore towing scandal; operator accused of fraud, evasion”, Aug. 23, 2017, Detroit Free Press

[20] Baldas Tresa and Matheny Keith, “FBI wiretaps reveal how towing titan Fiore built his empire”, Dec. 29, 2017, Detroit Free Press

[21] Baldas Tresa and Matheny Keith, “FBI wiretaps reveal how towing titan Fiore built his empire”, Dec. 29, 2017, Detroit Free Press

[22] Leduff Charlie, “Lamb Chops, Libido and Ding Dongs the Strange, True Life of Gasper Fiore”, January 10th, 2018, Deadline Detroit

[23] Department of Justice, “Towing Titan Gasper Fiore Pleads Guilty to Bribery”, December 20, 2017, Press Release

[24] Department of Justice, “Towing Titan Gasper Fiore Pleads Guilty to Bribery”, December 20, 2017, Press Release

[25] Baldas Tresa, “Feds: Lock up Gasper Fiore — he bribed many, including Kilpatrick aides”, July 19, 2018, Detroit Free Press

[26] Department of Justice, “Gasper Fiore Sentenced to Prison for Bribery”, August 2, 2018

[27] Department of Justice, “Gasper Fiore Sentenced to Prison for Bribery”, August 2, 2018

[28] Detroit Office of Inspector General, “Javion & Sam’s, Gene’s, Citywide, and B & G Administrative Hearing”, November 2, 2018 OIG # 18–0008-INV

[29] Hunter George, “Detroit City Council upholds tow company bans”, April 16, 2019, Detroit News

[30] Hunter George, “Detroit City Council upholds tow company bans”, April 16, 2019, Detroit News

[31] Press Release, “DETROIT CITY COUNCILMAN ANDRE SPIVEY PLEADS GUILTY TO BRIBERY CONSPIRACY”, U.S. Department of Justice, Eastern District of Michigan, September 28, 2021