Lawsuit: Detroit councilman Gabe Leland extorted $15K for favor

A Detroit business owner claims in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday night that Detroit Councilman Gabe Leland demanded $15,000 for his re-election campaign weeks before the August primary in exchange for a political favor.

Robert Carmack, who runs a car repair shop on Detroit's near west side, was mired in a property dispute with the city at the time. Leland promised to settle matters if the money was paid, according to the lawsuit.

“Leland demanded and requested (Carmack) to give … Leland $15,000 for his re-election campaign,” the lawsuit reads.

Leland did not return multiple requests for comment.

More stories:

He already has been tied to an FBI bribery investigation involving towing magnate Gaspar Fiore. The councilman dated Fiore’s daughter, Jennifer, according to FBI wiretap records, which indicate Leland appeared willing to keep the Fiore family updated with information that might help their towing businesses. Gaspar Fiore pleaded guilty to bribery in December, but a larger corruption investigation appears to be ongoing.

Carmack’s lawsuit claims Leland extorted him and seeks damages of at least $1 million. The lawsuit also names Mayor Mike Duggan and Wayne County Treasurer Eric Sabree as defendants for their roles in the dispute over property ownership at 8124 Michigan Ave. Carmack's lawsuit accuses the city of demolishing the building while he was the rightful owner.

Also at freep.com:

Detroit Corporation Counsel Lawrence Garcia, the top lawyer for the city, said Carmack is wrong. The city bought the property in 2010 after the county foreclosed on it, Garcia said in a statement. The structure was unsound when it was torn down in 2016, Garcia said.

"Now, two years later, (Carmack) files this lawsuit because he could not get special treatment from the administration in his effort to reclaim the property he had lost through a legal process," Garcia said in the statement.

After Leland demanded money to help with the property dispute, Carmack went to the FBI, according to the lawsuit. The FBI then asked Carmack to wear a recording device and to make the payment Leland requested.

Carmack said in an interview Thursday he was surprised by Leland's demand.

"That's the first time he ever asked me for money of that amount, and cash," Carmack said. "He never asked me for cash before."

By that time, Carmack and Leland had become familiar with each other. They met multiple times dating to 2015 to discuss the Michigan Avenue property, according to the lawsuit. Leland chaired a City Council economic development committee that was handling a proposed sale of the property. Carmack claimed he owned the property but the city was trying to sell it to somebody else.

The day after Leland requested the campaign contribution, the lawsuit reads, Carmack met a woman he believed was a Leland campaign worker on a side street near a bank on East Jefferson Avenue and handed her $7,500 in cash in an envelope.

“During the exchange, (Carmack) explains to the female campaign worker that the cash in the envelope was for defendant Leland and the female campaign worker responds by (stating) that it was not for her and that she would be delivering the money to defendant Leland immediately,” the lawsuit reads.

Carmack said he paid only $7,500 — rather than the $15,000 that Leland asked for — because the FBI wanted to split the payments in two. "It was their money, not my money," he said.

Days after the money changed hands, Leland asked Carmack to fix his secretary’s car for free, according to the lawsuit. Carmack fixed the car based on instructions from the FBI, the lawsuit reads.

A few weeks later, despite the payment, Leland put the Michigan Avenue land sale on his City Council committee's agenda, the lawsuit reads.

Carmack's suit asks the court to declare him the rightful owner.

Online county records for the Michigan Avenue property are mixed. The Wayne County Treasurer’s website lists three different parcels associated with the address. "Carmacks Collision" is listed as the taxpayer for two of the parcels and the City of Detroit is listed as the other.

Leland was re-elected in November to his second term as Detroit’s District 7 councilman.

Contact Joe Guillen: 313-222-6678 or jguillen@freepress.com. On Twitter: @joeguillen.