Politics & Government
3rd Macomb County Official Charged with Bribery in FBI Corruption Probe
Chesterfield Township Supervisor Michael Lovelock charged in alleged pay-for-play scheme for municipal garbage contracts.
CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI— Chesterfield Township Supervisor Michael Lovelock was arrested Thursday, the third Macomb County politician charged in a public corruption case. Allegations surfaced in October when the FBI disclosed it was investigating numerous public officials for taking bribes from the garbage hauler formerly known as Rizzo Environmental Services.
Lovelock, 57, of New Baltimore, is charged with demanding and taking bribes. according to a U.S. Attorney's office press release.
The complaint charges that since approximately 2010 and continuing through 2016, Lovelock accepted multiple bribes from the representative of a company that had a significant contract with Chesterfield Township. In total, he accepted over $30,000 in cash from the company’s representative. In addition, Lovelock accepted two other bribe payments totaling $4,000 in cash from an undercover agent of the FBI and
an individual cooperating in the investigation, with the payments being video recorded.
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According to officials, the investigation has employed telephone wiretaps, consensual audio and video recordings by cooperative individuals, undercover operations, physical surveillance, telephone tracking warrants, and subpoenas of financial records and other documents.
While Rizzo has not been named in any court documents, and has not been charged in the case, multiple sources familiar with the case have told the Free Press that a Rizzo employee became one of the government's key informants in the probe after getting caught on a wiretap paying bribes to Reynolds and at least one other municipal official.Rizzo is now owned by Toronto-based GFL Environmental, which purchased Rizzo two weeks before the corruption scandal surfaced in federal court. GFL has expressed frustration and outrage by the investigation, saying it had no idea that Rizzo was part of an FBI corruption investigation when it purchased the company.Meanwhile, GFL is in the process of re-branding all of Rizzo's signature red trucks and painting them bright green with the GFL logo.
Find out what's happening in Macomb Townshipfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Chuck Rizzo Jr., the top executive at the family trash hauling empire resigned last month after Reynolds was arrested. Pay-to-play deals were cited in municipal garbage contracts to Sterling Heights-based Rizzo Environmental Services in Reynolds' arrest and the arrest of Macomb Township Trustee Clifford Freitas, accused of taking $44,500 in bribes. Reynolds allegedly took up to $70,000 in bribes, according to U.S. District Court documents.
FBI investigators bugged the phones of the politicians and the bribe giver to uncover the alleged scheme, according to court documents. And as with the other two officials arrested so far, text messages played a key role in helping the FBI ensnare its latest target.
See Also
- Clinton Township Took Up to $70K for Votes: FBI
- 2nd Macomb Official Snared in FBI Corruption Probe
- Dearborn Heights Goes with Rizzo, Center of FBI Corruption Probe
- Trash Company Exec Resigns Amid FBI Corruption Probe
According to a criminal complaint, Freitas gave insider bidding tips to Rizzo to help the company win the deal — which they did — and also accepted a $35,000 bribe from Rizzo to make sure the bill was added onto the water bill so that Rizzo would save money.
Rizzo has previously stated that it is assisting the federal government in what the FBI has described as a widespread investigation into pay-to-play schemes across Macomb County.
Photo by J via Flickr Commons