Attorney Charged In Macomb County Corruption Probe

MACOMB COUNTY — A lawyer was charged Monday in connection with the Macomb County public corruption case. Macomb Township attorney Angelo Selva is accused of concealing a bribery conspiracy involving Clinton Township Trustee Dean Reynolds, a Rizzo Environmental Services executive and the company’s lawyer in September 2015. He is the seventh person accused of a crime in the scandal.

Rizzo Environmental Services, which was sold to Toronto-based GFL Environmental a few weeks before the scandal broke, has been accused of bribing public officials while expanding a business empire that reached 54 Metro Detroit communities at its peak. Selva, 59, was charged Tuesday in a criminal information, which means a guilty plea is expected, the Detroit News reported.

The criminal charge, and Selva’s possible guilty plea, could put pressure on Reynolds, the former township trustee. Reynolds is the only remaining public official charged in the case who either has not pleaded guilty or reached a plea deal with the government, the newspaper reported.

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It’s not the first time Selva has had legal problems. In 2005, the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board suspended Selva's license for three years after Selva pleaded no contest to allegations that he failed to act honestly in connection with escrow funds, the Detroit Free Press reported. According to the board, he released $5,000 to himself prior to fulfilling the conditions of agreements that were executed by his client and another business in two separate matters.

He also allegedly failed to provide a full and fair answer to a request for investigation, board records show, the newspaper reported. Selva was ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution.

Monday’s charges come just five days after a former Rizzo executive was charged with delivering cash bribes to two officials in exchange for helping his employer secure lucrative municipal contracts. Quintin Ramanauskas, a former commercial manager who for years worked at Rizzo Environmental Services, was charged on May 18 with delivering cash bribes to two local officials — Reynolds and former Chesterfield Township Supervisor Michael Lovelock, the Free Press reported.

Ramanauskas is accused of leaving a $3,000 cash bribe for Reynolds to pick up on Nov. 5, 2015. The drop-off location was not disclosed in the charges against Ramanauskas, the newspaper reported.

Out of the seven individuals charged thus far in the scandal, four have cut plea deals. According to the Free Press, they are:

• Macomb Township Trustee Clifford Freitas;
• Former New Haven Trustee Christopher Craigmiles; who pleaded guilty in February to accepting a $5,000 bribe from an undercover agent in exchange for his vote on what he thought was a future Rizzo trash contract;
• Former New Haven Trustee Brett Harris, who also pleaded guilty to bribery, admitting he took more than $11,000 from an undercover agent who was posing as a Rizzo official;
• And Lovelock, 57, of New Baltimore, who has cut a deal in the case and has a plea hearing set for June 1.

Craigmiles and Harris will be sentenced June 8, the Free Press reported.

Photo courtesy of the city of Southfield