Bagman Pleads Guilty In Rizzo Corruption Probe

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) — A former lawyer has pleaded guilty to a bribery scheme involving a suburban Detroit official and a trash hauler.

Angelo Selva's plea deal with federal prosecutors Monday comes with a possible 27-month prison sentence. But his cooperation could lead to a shorter sentence.

Selva says he helped Dean Reynolds, a trustee in a Macomb County township, get cash from the chief executive of Rizzo Environmental Services, starting in 2014. He says he created a false document to make the money appear as a loan.

Reynolds is no longer in office. He is among 12 people charged in the corruption investigation and has pleaded not guilty. There have been five guilty pleas so far.

Charles "Chuck" Rizzo Jr., who headed up Rizzo, was charged with five counts of bribery and three counts of conspiracy to commit bribery in connection with garbage contracts in Clinton, Macomb, and Chesterfield Townships.

Rizzo, 70, was also charged with twelve counts of mail and wire fraud. The indictment says he, his father, and towing company owner Gasper Fiore were involved in at least ten different schemes to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from Rizzo garbage between 2013 and 2016, when its majority owner was a private equity firm.

A portion of the money allegedly went to construction costs of Charles Rizzo's Bloomfield Township mansion. The indictment claims that some of the stolen money was used to pay bribes to public officials in order to maintain and secure additional municipal garbage contracts.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)