Benny Napoleon
Benny Napoleon (born 1955) is an American law enforcement officer and politician who is the current Sheriff of Wayne County, Michigan, and a 2013 candidate for the office of Mayor of Detroit.
Benny N. Napoleon | |
---|---|
Wayne County Sheriff | |
Assumed office July 6, 2009 | |
Preceded by | Warren Evans |
Personal details | |
Born | 1955 (age 64–65) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Lisa Cunningham (divorced) |
Alma mater | Mercy College of Detroit Detroit College of Law (J.D.) |
Profession | Police officer |
Website | bennynapoleon |
Napoleon graduated from Cass Technical High School. He entered the Detroit Police in 1975, and rose through the ranks. He served as police chief from 1998-2001 under Dennis Archer. In 2004 he was made Assistant Wayne County Executive, and in 2009 he became Wayne County Sheriff.[1]
Political career
In 2012, Brian Banks falsely claimed to be an attorney, leading Napoleon to endorse him.[2] Napoleon's spokesman Dennis Niemiec said the Napoleon was unaware of Banks’ felony convictions[3] and Napoleon said he did not previously know about Banks' felonies.
2013 Detroit Mayoral election
A Democrat, Napoleon entered Detroit politics in 2013, announcing his intentions to run for mayor in the city's non-partisan primary to replace Dave Bing, who announced he would not seek re-election after the appointment of an emergency manager for the city.[4][5] During the primary campaign, he referred to himself as a "businessman with a badge" . Napoleon placed second in the primary despite his most serious competition,[6] former Wayne County Prosecutor and Detroit Medical Center CEO Mike Duggan having to run as a write-in candidate,[7] and lost the mayoral race to Mike Duggan on November 5, 2013.[8]
FBI investigation
In December 2017, the Detroit Free Press obtained FBI wiretap transcripts that were unsealed in U.S. District Court. The investigation is linked to a corruption case against Gasper Fiore, the owner of Boulevard & Trumbull Towing, a large City of Detroit contractor. In December 2017, Fiore entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office, in which he agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit federal program bribery.[9]
According to court documents, the government has probable cause that Fiore and 17 other targets were involved in several crimes, including: extortion, wire fraud, bribery and conspiracy to distribute marijuana.[10] FBI Special Agent Robert Beeckman wrote in a wire tap request document reviewed by the Detroit News that "Evidence has been gathered showing that crimes involving corruption have been committed by some of the target subjects, including...Napoleon...."[11]
References
- "Bio of Benny Napoleon". Huffington Post.
- "8-Time Felon From Detroit Seeks Michigan House Seat". CBS.
- "Candidate for Michigan House seat is eight-time felon". WLMI.
- Matt Helms (March 26, 2013). "Benny Napoleon kicks off bid to be Detroit's next mayor". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
- "Bing won't seek re-election as Detroit mayor". The Big Story. Archived from the original on 2013-06-25.
- Sarah Cwiek & Steve Carmody (August 7, 2013). "Duggan makes history with winning write-in campaign; Napoleon rallies supporters". Michigan Radio. Retrieved December 2, 2017.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
- "Mike Duggan will run for Detroit mayor as write-in candidate". FOX 2 Detroit. June 28, 2013. Archived from the original on 2014-09-13. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
- Ashley Woods (November 6, 2013). "Mike Duggan Becomes Detroit's First White Mayor In 40 Years". Huffington Post. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
- Tresa Baldas and Keith Matheny (29 December 2017). "FBI wiretaps reveal how towing titan Fiore built his empire". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- Tresa Baldas and Keith Matheny (29 December 2017). "FBI wiretaps reveal how towing titan Fiore built his empire". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- Violet Ikonomova (29 December 2017). "Reports: Detroit city councilman and former state rep. targeted in public corruption probe". Detroit Metro Times. Retrieved 4 January 2018.