Detroit Councilman Gabe Leland subject of federal grand jury probe

Kat Stafford | Detroit Free Press

A federal grand jury has been impaneled to investigate claims that Detroit City Councilman Gabe Leland allegedly extorted thousands of dollars in free alcohol, food and other items in exchange for political promises from a shuttered downtown bar, according to a subpoena obtained by the Free Press.

The subpoena was issued Aug. 8 by Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Michael Bullotta and sought all documentation related to Leland possibly obtaining:

Free entry into parties or events

Free alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks

Free food, including entrees, appetizers and desserts

Any other items of value provided free of charge or at a discounted price

The probe is the latest twist in a lengthy legal battle that began in November 2016 when the co-owners of the former Centre Park Bar, 1407 Randolph, first filed a lawsuit against Mayor Mike Duggan and other city officials. Leland has not been charged with any crime.

The original suit, which is still winding through the court system, claimed police harassment and alleged Dennis Archer Jr., former Mayor Dennis Archer's son, received favorable treatment while buying the building the bar occupied.

A separate lawsuit was filed in July by attorney Andrew Paterson on behalf of Centre Park co-owner Kenneth Scott Bridgewater, alleging Leland stopped by the bar in fall 2016 to speak with him about the ongoing issues the bar was having. The lawsuit also names Detroit Police Officer Robert Harris and Detroit Fire Department Captain Calvin Harris.

Leland did not respond to a request for comment but his attorney Steve Fishman said in a statement to the Free Press:

"The allegations made by the former owners of Centre Park Bar that Gabe Leland received preferential treatment are too ridiculous to deserve further comment. Contact me again if even one document exists that supports that claim."

Paterson said in a statement Thursday regarding the federal probe that his clients were forced to close earlier this year “due to the unethical and possibly illegal actions of certain elected and appointed officials of the City of Detroit and the Detroit Downtown Development Authority.”

“My clients are thankful for the opportunity the U.S. Attorney's office and the FBI have given them to help expose the unlawful and corrupt conduct of certain city officials and their associates,” Paterson said in a statement to the Free Press, adding that they plan to assist the "ongoing criminal investigation."

The U.S. Attorney's Office and FBI declined to comment.

In late July, the councilman called the July federal lawsuit filed against him a "witch hunt."

When asked by a Free Press reporter at the time whether the allegations were false and whether he'd accepted any free alcohol or food, Leland did not directly answer the question.

"These are allegations," Leland said. "I sat in the restaurant and I had a drink and I had some food. That isn’t illegal. … Anybody in this city who thinks they can get some influence out of me for a tequila and a taco is greatly mistaken."

The bar initially signed a lease in August 2013 with the Detroit Downtown Development Authority, which was not set to expire until Aug. 19 of this year.

But in September 2015, the DDA requested development proposals from developers to acquire properties owned by the DDA to redevelop the old Paradise Valley area.

Centre Park also prepared a development proposal for the property but Archer's investment group, Gotham Capital Partners, was eventually selected as the winning bidder.

After Centre Park ownership started to publicly question the process, Bridgewater alleges the bar was retaliated against and was visited and ticketed several times by police officers.

Bridgewater claims during their initial conversation and "without being asked," Leland offered to assist him in addressing the issues Centre Park Bar was experiencing.

But according to the suit, Leland later in the conversation demanded "free entry into parties," as well as free alcoholic drinks and food whenever he visited the bar.

Bridgewater claims he asked Leland whether his demands were ethical and lawful, and Leland said it was “normal practice” for local restaurants and bars in the City of Detroit to "provide members of the Detroit City Council and other elected and city officials with free alcoholic drinks and free food upon request."

"Plaintiff Bridgewater did not want to honor Defendant Leland’s demands, but felt compelled to do so," Peterson wrote in the July suit. "... Bridgewater feared that if he did not honor Defendant Leland’s demands that Defendant Leland would make sure that Centre Park Bar would continue to be ticketed and closed."

Bridgewater alleges in the suit he feared retaliation because Leland said if he didn't honor his demands, it would be a "sure thing" that the bar would be harassed and evicted from the property.

The bar eventually closed in April 2018, Bridgewater says, in part because of the alleged harassment.

City of Detroit Corporation Counsel Lawrence Garcia said in a previous statement to the Free Press that "any allegation that DPD Officer Harris or of DFD Capt. Harris were acting inappropriately by 'harassing the Center Park Bar into closing' are false."

The lawsuit is the latest legal woe to hit Leland and comes less than four months after a Detroit businessman claimed in a separate federal lawsuit that Leland demanded $15,000 for his re-election campaign weeks before the August primary in exchange for a political favor.

In January, Leland was named a potential target in a wide-ranging FBI corruption probe involving local towing magnate Gasper Fiore. Leland, who was re-elected to a second term on council in November, has not been charged with any crime.

Fiore, who pleaded guilty last December to bribing a Macomb County official, faces up to five years in prison. His case is part of a broader corruption scandal that has ensnared at least 20 individuals, many of whom have pleaded guilty.

Kat Stafford is the Detroit government watchdog reporter for the Free Press, covering city issues and the community. Contact Kat Stafford: kstafford@freepress.com or 313-223-4759.