Former Clinton Township Trustee Dean Reynolds asked to be sentenced to only five years in prison — twice the national average of a federal sentence for someone convicted of bribery.
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| Dean Reynolds |
Instead, Reynolds — once described by a federal prosecutor as a "shakedown artist"— got 17 years.
Reynolds, 51, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Port Huron after he took a chance on a jury trial and was convicted last year of 14 bribery charges in a widespread federal corruption probe that started in Macomb County. He also was ordered to pay $15,000 in fines, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit.
"The Court's sentence today shows that public officials who violate the trust of their communities by taking bribes and betraying their oaths of office will not escape our pursuit of justice," U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider said in a statement.
Reynolds was accused of accepting bribes in connection with millions of dollars in township garbage, towing and engineering contracts. He demanded and took more than $150,000 in bribes in four separate bribery conspiracies involving four different government contracts, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The stiff sentence fell below the approximately 19 years to 24 years recommended in the government's sentencing memorandum, but well above the 80-percent drop that Reynolds requested.
Reynolds' sentence comes about a half-year after federal prosecutors said he lied about having cancer in an effort to get bond. His attorney at the time also asked to withdraw from the case.
Reynolds' attorney, Richard Korn, emailed a statement to the Free Press:
"In view of the fact that Dean Reynolds was not charged with or convicted of crimes such as racketeering, extortion, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, or other crimes that often result in extreme prison sentences, and that there was no evidence whatsoever that Clinton Township suffered any financial harm as a result of Dean Reynolds actions, I felt that the 17 year sentence was unnecessarily severe and unreasonable."
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Reynolds was ordered immediately to jail in June 2018 after a jury convicted him for his role in the corruption probe that took down a trash empire and thus far has resulted in criminal charges against 20 people, including other politicians.
Reynolds was accused of taking bribes of more than $75,000 in cash, $50,000 in free legal services for his divorce and an all-expenses paid trip to Disney World, including an eight-night stay in a deluxe room costing more than $600 per night, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Reynolds was the first person to stand trial in the probe, which has netted more than a dozen guilty pleas and the sentencing of former trash kingpin Charles Rizzo Jr. among others. Reynolds also was accused of taking bribes from towing titan Gasper Fiore, who was convicted of bribery conspiracy.
Reynolds' sentence is harsher than the more than five-year sentence Rizzo received and the 21-month sentence that Fiore was ordered to serve. It's not quite as tough as the 28-year prison sentence that former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is serving for federal corruption crimes.
"Today’s sentence serves as a reminder that there are consequences for robbing our
communities of the honest government they deserve,” said Timothy Slater, special agent in charge of the Detroit field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. “The FBI and the Detroit Area Public Corruption Task Force will continue to pursue those who — like Mr. Reynolds — abuse their position for personal financial gain.”
communities of the honest government they deserve,” said Timothy Slater, special agent in charge of the Detroit field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. “The FBI and the Detroit Area Public Corruption Task Force will continue to pursue those who — like Mr. Reynolds — abuse their position for personal financial gain.”
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