DETROIT (WWJ) -- Former Detroit City councilman Andre Spivey has been sentenced to two years in prison over a federal bribery charge Wednesday morning at a federal court in downtown Detroit.
Spivey, 47, took nearly $36,000 in bribes over five years from a Detroit towing company working with the federal government.
"This wasn't a mild case of corruption, this wasn't a single lapse in judgment but a pattern of corruption," said U.S. District Judge Victoria A. Roberts.
Before the sentence was handed down, Spivey said he was sorry for the "embarrassment" he has brought to his family, friends, the city of Detroit and constituents. He said he broke the law and he was wrong.
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Spivey also said that he made very poor choices.
Federal prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Spivey to three years and four months and Roberts ended up sentencing below that request. The prosecutors said Spivey "gutted" the faith that Detroiters have in their government.
The defense asked for probation, claiming that Spivey cooperated with the feds.
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Spivey's case is the first one to be charged in the ongoing federal corruption investigation into Detroit's towing operations and other matters.
Federal prosecutors have gone back and forth with his legal council in regards to his punishment, following his guilty plea of conspiracy to commit bribery in September 2021.
