Retired Macomb County Official Pleads Guilty To Bribery Charges

DETROIT, MI—James Pistilli, the 68-year-old former chief engineer for Macomb County Public Works Department, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiracy to commit bribery in federal court, announced acting U.S. Attorney Daniel L. Lemisch. Pistilli, of Holly, faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 30.

Pistilli in 2014 was working for a private engineering firm, and conspired with fellow engineer, Paul Modi and others, to pay a $2,000 cash bribe to Steven Hohensee, who was then the Superintendent of the Department of Public Works for Washington Township, according to prosecutor. Hohensee, however, was cooperating with the FBI.

Modi, 48, of Troy, earlier this month pleaded guilty to bribery, as well. He is to be sentenced in January. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Detroit Patch, and click here to find your local Michigan Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The case is part of the government’s wide-ranging corruption investigation by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service, and centered in Macomb County. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David A. Gardey and R. Michael Bullotta.

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