Kilpatrick Era Detroit Treasurer Gets 11 Years In Prison For Corruption

DETROIT (AP/WWJ) - The city of Detroit's former treasurer has been sentenced to 11 years in prison in a case related to years of pay-to-play corruption under then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Jeffrey Beasley, who was Kilpatrick's college fraternity brother, apologized Monday but says he didn't extort anyone while serving as a trustee at Detroit's pension funds. He was convicted in December, along with two other officials in a scheme to take cash in exchange for approving certain pension fund investments.

Beasley, who was convicted of extortion and bribery, faces the third-longest sentence in the government's investigation of city hall corruption.

Nearly 40 people have been convicted, including another Kilpatrick pal, contractor Bobby Ferguson, who is serving a 21-year term.

Kilpatrick is serving a 28-year sentence at a federal prison in Oklahoma after his 2013 conviction on two dozen counts, from tax evasion to bribery. A jury found that he rigged contracts, took bribes and committed other corrupt acts.

An appeals court last month upheld Kilpatrick's conviction and sentence after his attorney sought an appeal citing a conflict involving Kilpatrick's attorneys and other reasons. He quit the mayor's office in 2008 during a different scandal involving sexually explicit text messages and an extramarital affair.

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