Michigan mayor pleads guilty to bribery charge

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The former mayor of Inkster has pleaded guilty to criminal charges for accepting bribes while in office.

Dawn Ison, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, announced Patrick Wimberly’s plea on Wednesday. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Prosecutors say the bribery scandal stems from the sale of a property owned by the city. In the spring of 2022, Wimberly allegedly demanded $100,000 in cash payments from the buyer in exchange for guiding the city council on approving the deal.

The buyer, referred to by Ison as “Person A,” initially started paying Wimberly $5,000 a month. After several months, Wimberly allegedly demanded the payments increase to $10,000 per month. Person A paid Wimberly $50,000 before the FBI intervened.

“Public officials who act in their own best interests, motivated by greed, betray the trust of their communities and the general public,” Ison said in a statement. “We will continue to aggressively prosecute corrupt public officials for their illegal actions.”

Wimberly was elected to the office in 2019. According to The Detroit News , he lost his re-election bid in 2023 to his predecessor, Byron Nolen, who previously served as mayor from 2015 through 2019.

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