Ex-Exec Robert Ficano Takes Step Toward Comeback As Judge

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - Robert Ficano, the former Wayne County executive who was swept out of office, is trying to make a comeback as a judge.

Ficano got enough votes in Tuesday's primary to advance to the fall election for Wayne County judge — despite being rated as "not qualified" by the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, a group of lawyers.

Ficano was defeated for re-election in August of 2014 following months of unflattering news about county government; especially a disastrous jail project and a years-long federal investigation into corruption by members of his administration.

Ficano took some flak when construction of the new 2,000-bed on Gratiot Ave. at I-375 in Detroit went wildly over budget, with work on the project idled for about two-and-a-half years now.

On the corruption front, five people in Ficano's administration were convicted including currently aid Michael Grundy who  was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for taking over $700,000 from a health insurance program.

The investigation had dogged Ficano's administration, contributing to his re-election loss, and followed a FBI probe that sent former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to prison.

Ficano, who was sheriff before becoming county executive, was never charged.

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