Feds Charge 2nd Official In Macomb County Corruption Probe

DETROIT (WWJ) - Another Macomb County trustee has been arrested on bribery charges.

The U.S. attorneys office has charged 43-year-old Macomb Township Trustee Clifford Freitas with engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and including demanding and accepting money in exchange for votes as a trustee.

A complaint says Freitas took nearly $10,000 in bribes, including $2,000 from an undercover FBI agent with the payment being videotaped.

In exchange for the money, the feds say Freitas gave a vendor bid information, and specifically what bid was needed, to beat out competing contractors. The township uses Rizzo Environmental Services as its garbage company, but Rizzo is not specifically named in the complaint — which includes a transcript of secretly recorded phone calls.

Freitas appeared in federal court in Detroit for an arraignment Tuesday. He was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond on the conditions he surrender his passport concealed pistol licence.

[View a copy of the complaint]

This comes after, earlier this month, Clinton Township trustee Dean Reynolds was arrested on similar charges, also connected to a Rizzo contract.

As the federal probe continues, WWJ has confirmed that the head of Rizzo has resigned his position. Chuck Rizzo Jr. is stepping down from the company he founded, according to a spokesman.

"The citizens of Michigan must be able to trust that government officials will perform their duties in the best interests of the communities they serve," said David P. Gelios, Special Agent in Charge, Detroit Division of the Federal Bureau of investigation, in a media release. "Today's arrest is another unfortunate reminder that some public officials have lost sight of that obligation."

U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade says this latest case is part of an ongoing and long-running investigation into systemic corruption in multiple municipalities in southeast Michigan, primarily Macomb County.

Anyone who has information about corrupt activity in Macomb County or any other community in Michigan is urged to contact the Detroit FBI Public Corruption tip line at 313-965-2222.

Freitas is due back in court for a preliminary exam on Nov. 15.