DETROIT (WWJ) -- A day after pleading guilty to federal bribery charges, Andre Spivey officially resigned from the Detroit City Council on Wednesday.
Spivey admitted to accepting more than $35,000 in bribes over a two-year period to influence towing contracts in the city.
The official charge, one count of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, was filed after the FBI raided Spivey's home, as well as his office at Detroit City Hall in August. He faces up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. He is due to be sentenced in January.
Related
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says he spoke to Spivey Tuesday night and he shared his regrets, though he did not disclose many details about their conversation.
“My conversations with him were private, and this is hard. He apologized. He knows -- I don’t know what his conversations have been like with his family members -- but he knows this has not reflected well on the city,” Duggan said Wednesday.
Duggan vows to overhaul the city's towing contract system, which he says is ripe for bribery and mis-use.
In a statement released Wednesday, Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones said she was saddened by the announcement of Spivey’s guilty plea.
“I am resolute to continue the business of the City of Detroit through Detroit City Council. The City Council has encountered many hardships in my last 16 years. But like most Detroiters, we have always bounced back and gotten through difficult times,” Jones said. “I remain committed to push for accountability, transparency and integrity in all of our operations. I will continue to pray for the Spivey family and for the citizens of the City of Detroit.”
Jones says during the vacancy, residents in Spivey’s District 4 -- on the city’s east side -- will “continue to have their interests represented by both City Council at-large members, Councilwoman Janee Ayers and myself.”
Council members Scott Benson and Janee Ayers remain under investigation on similar charges.
Speaking to WWJ's Jon Hewett, Spivey's attorney, Elliot Hall, said Tuesday that while his client accepted the money, he never took action.
Hewett asked if Detroit residents should assume it's still a pay-to-play game in Detroit politics.
"We elect our officials expecting them to be honest and sometimes they go astray," Hall said. "But in this particular case — despite the fact that Mr. Spivey took money — my bottom line has been from day one that he never violated the public trust in terms of using those funds to vote for a piece of legislation."
Related
