by
Anthony Marrocco
The feds on Wednesday unsealed an indictment charging Anthony Marrocco, a former Macomb County public works commissioner with using underlings to extort money from builders and contractors by pressuring them to purchase hundreds of thousands of dollars in tickets to his twice-yearly fundraisers.
Authorities charged that the influential Marrocco, 71, of Ray Township, harmed those who didn't contribute by holding up building permits, delaying payments owed to vendors and refusing to award contracts to engineering firms. The scheme allegedly ran from from 1994 to 2016.
The indictment alleges that Marrocco used some of the extorted money for personal expenses, including air travel, vehicle rentals, dinners, condo association fees, spa visits, wedding and holiday gifts and yacht club charges.
"For far too long, due to Commissioner Marrocco’s unchecked power over builders and contractors in Macomb County, business owners were forced to pay homage to the commissioner by purchasing expensive fundraising tickets for the sole benefit of the commissioner," said Detroit U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider in a statement. "The two decades of alleged extortion by Mr. Marrocco show an obscene abuse of power and a grave betrayal of the trust of the citizens of Macomb County."
Defense lawyer Steve Fishman is quoted by The Detroit News as saying: "If that conduct is illegal, every politician in America is going to jail."
The indictment is part of a long-running FBI inquiry into Macomb County corruption. Twenty-two public officials and bribe-paying businessmen have been convicted.
It had been rumored for years that the Marrocco indictment was coming as federal prosecutors paraded witnesses from Macomb County before a grand jury.
The feds allege that Marrocco directed his DPW underling Dino Bucci and others at at the agency to pressure builders and contractors in Macomb County to purchase fundraiser tickets.
He faces four extortion-related charges, with each carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
