Flint Re-Press: Brown trial had all the makings of a classic racketeering case, experts say - By I.M. Satire

Michael Moore attempts to interview former Flint Emergency Manager Mike Brown after extortion, racketeering, and fraud verdict.

Former Flint Mayor Mike Brown and his longtime contractor friend Tim Herman were convicted of racketeering and extortion this morning, marking an end to a more than decade-long public corruption investigation.



Brown was convicted on 24 of 30 counts, including five counts of extortion, racketeering, bribery and several mail, wire and tax fraud charges. On three counts, he was found not guilty, and on three no verdict was reached.

Herman was found guilty on nine of 11 counts, including racketeering and several counts of extortion. He was found not guilty on one count. No verdict was reached on another.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder was convicted on one of four counts — a tax charge. There was no verdict for him on the racketeering charge, and he was found not guilty on two other charges: attempted extortion and a tax charge.

Coming out of the courthouse, Governor Snyder was asked whether he believes the jury got it wrong.

"Absolutely," he said, before being whisked away in a red Ford Mustang a few minutes after his pals left the courthouse.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office wants all three men to be detained.

The most serious charges, including racketeering and mail fraud, carry maximum 20-year prison sentences. Other crimes in the indictment, such as bribery and extortion, each carry a maximum 10-year prison sentence. The conspirators also faced tax charges, which carry three-year maximum prison sentences.

The most weighty of the charges was the one levied under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO), a 1970 law that was initially designed to combat organized crime but has since been used in several public corruption trials. In the Flint case, prosecutors charged the group they called the “Emergency Manager Enterprise” engaged in a pattern of criminal activity — one of the requirements of RICO ­— that included at least two criminal acts.

Asked to comment after the hearing, Mike Brown said, “Not at this time.” Coming out of the courthouse, Herman said, “We're the good people.”

Earlier in the courtroom, Mike Brown’s hands were clasped in front of him and resting on his chin, Herman was slumped in his chair and Governor Snyder was on the edge of his seat.

The defendants were accused of, among other things, shaking down citizens and rigging democratic processes to help steer lucrative contracts to Herman. Prosecutors said the philosophy of the enterprise was simple: If you wanted work in the City of Flint, you either had to hire Herman or, in some cases, hire the Mott Foundation CEO’s son as a consultant.

That was one of the main themes in the government’s nearly five-month trial, which featured a mountain of evidence that included 80 government witnesses, scores of bank records, contract agreements, text messages and secret video and audio recordings.

The jury also heard about Herman and Brown’s lavish self-justifying and their nonprofits, Uptown Reinvestment Corp. and Flint Area Reinvestment Office respectively, which the government said the ex-mayor and his friend are heavily dependent on for grants and other forms of support from the Mott Foundation. Prosecutors said those funds were meant for voter education and youth, but seeings how Flint can't vote, Brown used it to leverage tax abatements from the public and handed them to Herman's Uptown group to bolster private investments Herman and his associates had made.

Several businessmen also testified that they lavished Brown with compliments, custom-made jobs and dictatorial powers because they wanted to keep him happy, and they needed help with city deals.

All three men vigorously denied the charges, saying they never demanded anything of anyone and were committed to helping minority businesses grow.

The most serious charges, including racketeering and mail fraud, carry maximum 20-year prison sentences. Other crimes in the indictment, such as bribery and extortion, each carry a maximum 10-year prison sentence. Brown and Herman also faced tax charges, which carry three-year maximum prison sentences.

When the trial started last fall, it included a fourth defendant — ex-city public safety administrator Barret Jones. But he pleaded guilty during trial to conspiracy and awaits sentencing while continuing to work his day job as chief security and integrity officer with the Detroit water department.

(NOTE: Only the underlined and italicized words were changed from the original Detroit Free Press article about the verdict in the Kwame Kilpatrick case.)