Kwame Krony Kracks

As US District Attorney Barbara McQuade pushes forward in her corruption investigation, a key aide of Kwame Kilpatrick has pled guilty and apparently agreed to testify against the tainted former mayor.

The Detroit Free Press: Kwame Kilpatrick aide Derrick Miller pleads guilty in stunning setback for former mayor

Derrick Miller, one of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's closest friends and trusted aides, pleaded guilty to bribery and lying on his taxes this morning in U.S. District Court in downtown Detroit.

As part of his guilty plea, he will be cooperating in the case against Kilpatrick and is expected to testify at the ex-mayor’s trial, which is scheduled for September 2012.

Kilpatrick; his father, Bernard Kilpatrick; Miller, longtime pal and controversial contractor Bobby Ferguson and former head of Detroit's water and sewerage department Victor Mercado were indicted in December on charges they perverted the city’s contracting system by shaking down city contractors to steer millions in public funds into their own pockets.

The lying on his taxes part comes from not reporting the hundreds of thousands of dollars he received as bribes, pay-to-play fees (ie you pay him or you don't get a shot at doing busienss with the city), and kickbacks from developers.

When you read the article and look at the influence Miller was peddling its amazing both how much money he was receiving and how cheap at times it could be to do "business" with him and make out like a bandit at the expense of the city.

For example, in return for a $10,000 dollar bribe, he allegedly

authorized that at least $4.4 million in U.S. Department of Homeland Security funds be paid to Security Communications Alert Network to install security cameras and television screens in the city to detect potential threats to the public.

Not a bad return on an investment.

Of course these sweetheart deals increased the cost and financial strain upon both the city of Detroit, and in the case of the massive corruption going on at the Water Depertment, to the entire region.

Kudos to USDA McQuade for her determined and fruitful pursuit of this wretched hive of scum and villany.

The investigation is not over yet, and I bet we haven't even seen the tip of the iceberg of the corruption under the Kwame regime.