Gabriel Leland (born September 28,1982) is a convicted criminal and former Democratic politician from the state of Michigan. In 2004,Leland was elected to the Michigan State House of Representatives,representing the 10th District,which is located in Wayne County and includes the farwest and partial northwest corner of the city of Detroit. Leland has served on the Detroit City Council from 2013 to 2021,when he resigned and pleaded guilty to misconduct in office.[1]
Gabriel Leland was born on September 28, 1982, to Burton and Rosanne Leland, a Jewish family from Northwest Detroit. At the time of his birth, his father was serving as Democratic State Representative, a position that he would hold until 1998, when he was elected to the Michigan State Senate where he served until he retired from the legislature due to term limits in 2006. Gabe and his older brother Zachary spent much of their childhood working on the campaigns of their father, serving as voter registration drive workers and walking door-to-door with their father.
Leland attended both East Lansing and Detroit Public Schools and graduated from East Lansing High School in 2001.[2] He attended Kehillat Israel Congregation in Lansing, MI while growing up.[3]
Leland graduated from Central Michigan University with a B.S. / community development concentration. He attends the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in Detroit.
Political career
In 2004, following in the footsteps of his father, Gabe Leland announced his candidacy as a Democrat for the 10th State House District in Detroit to succeed Triette E. Reeves, who was retiring due to term limits. However, Leland faced much opposition in the Democratic Primary. The 10th District is approximately 70% African American and several prominent African Americans ran against Leland in the primary, including future State Representative from the 9th District, Shanelle Jackson. The primary was competitive and often racially charged.[citation needed] Leland narrowly won the Primary with only 21% of the vote. He went on to easily win the General Election, as the 10th District is heavily Democratic.
In 2006, several people again challenged Leland in the Democratic Primary, including Stephanie Young, who was supported by former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Leland won the primary with 53% of the vote. He won the 2008 Democratic primary with 68% of the vote and no Republican ran against him in the 2008 General Election. Term limits prevent Leland from running for re-election in 2010.
On November 5, 2013, Leland won the newly created Detroit City Council seat in District 7. It was the narrowest victory in any of the council races, winning by only 50 votes.[4][5] In 2017, Leland was re-elected with 56% of the vote.[6]
FBI Investigation
In July 2017, a Fox2 investigation revealed Gabe Leland has voted for, or extended, at least four contracts on behalf of Gasper Fiore. Fiore's daughter, Jennifer Fiore, has acknowledged that she dated Leland from late 2014 to early 2017. She is also an attorney and executive in Fiore's companies. The contracts, or amendments, are valued at over two million dollars.
In addition to providing towing services, Gasper Fiore was also an executive in companies that leased property to the Detroit Police Department and removed snow from Detroit streets.
Fiore was among twenty defendants targeted in a public corruption investigation in Macomb County that targeted pay-to-play schemes, including one that took down the Rizzo trash empire. In May 2017, a federal grand jury indicted Gasper Fiore on bribery and fraud charges for paying a Clinton Township trustee to support a towing contract for Fiore's companies.[7]
In December 2017, the Detroit Free Press obtained wiretap transcripts that were accidentally unsealed in U.S. District Court. The transcripts were part of the FBI investigation against Gasper Fiore. According to court documents, the government had probable cause that Fiore and other targets, including Leland, were involved in several crimes, including: extortion, wire fraud, bribery and conspiracy to distribute marijuana.[8]
On October 4, 2018, Leland was indicted on charges of two counts of bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. The charges stemmed from Leland's solicitation of bribes from local business owner Robert Carmack, in exchange for Leland's help in preventing or delaying the city's sale of a property Carmack owned.[9] According to Lawrence Garcia, of the City of Detroit Corporation Counsel, "Leland promised not to sell Carmack's property, located at 8124 Michigan Ave., if Carmack would give Leland $15,000 for his reelection campaign."[10] Carmack also claims Leland asked him to fix his secretary’s car for free.[11]
The indictment details several discussions Leland had with Carmack between May and August 2017, including a meeting at the Caucus Club, where Leland acknowledged receiving $7,500 cash.[12] At a May 2017 meeting, Leland told Carmack: "I should ask for 30 (thousand dollars) but I'm nice to you."[13]
After the request by Leland, Carmack went to the FBI for help who asked Carmack to wear a wire and pay Leland. While a camera was secretly recording, Carmack paid $7,500 to Leland campaign staffer, Elisa Grubbs. Leland allegedly confirmed the payment on tape.[14]
The indictment alleges that after Leland and Carmack discussed preventing the sale in exchange for $15,000, Leland cast the only vote during a June 2017 council committee meeting against placing the property sale on the City Council agenda. At the time of the vote, Leland was chairman of the committee.[15] Later, the indictment says, Leland discussed his ability to hold up the property sale during a telephone conversation with Carmack. "I held it up again. Yeah. Yeah, it stayed right, right in committee brother." Later in the conversation, Leland scolded Carmack: "You didn't show up to my fundraiser."[16]
According to the indictment, Carmack was uncomfortable about his dealings with Leland. Leland reassured Carmack of his loyalty, stating: "No, but you can f---in' trust me. That's all that matters."[17]
In spite of Carmack’s attempts to curry favor, Leland eventually put Carmack’s property on the city council agenda to sell it.[18]
The indictment also accuses Leland of conspiring with Grubbs, who was charged for her role in the alleged scheme.[19]
If convicted of the charges, Leland faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each bribery count and up to five years and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy count.
Extortion lawsuit
In March 2018, Robert Carmack filed a lawsuit against Leland in federal court for extortion.[20]
Electoral history
Map of Wayne County with the 10th District highlighted in bold
2017 campaign for Detroit City Council District 7
Gabe Leland, 56%
Regina Ross, 44%
2013 campaign for Detroit City Council District 7
Gabe Leland, 49.11%
John K. Bennett, 48.81%
2008 campaign for State House
Gabe Leland (D), 95%
Marc Sosnowski (UST), 5%
2008 campaign for State House, Democratic Primary
Gabe Leland (D), 68%
LaTanya Garrett (D), 27%
Brian Sylvester (D), 6%
2006 campaign for State House
Gabe Leland (D), 94%
Thomas Shaut (R), 6%
2006 campaign for State House, Democratic Primary
Gabe Leland (D), 53%
Stephanie Young (D), 28%
Barbra Long (D), 8%
Ron Johnson (D), 4%
Thomas Jackson (D), 3%
2004 campaign for State House
Gabe Leland (D), 91%
Reuben Myers (R), 9%
2004 campaign for State House, Democratic Primary
Gabe Leland (D), 21%
Jim Edmondson, Jr. (D), 18%
Barbra Long (D), 17%
Shanelle Jackson (D), 17%
Carolyn Chambers (D), 10%
Ron Johnson (D), 6%
Michael Grundy (D), 5%
Related Research Articles
Kwame Malik Kilpatrick is an American convicted fraudster and racketeer, who previously served as the 72nd mayor of Detroit – from 2002 to 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the 9th district in the Michigan House of Representatives from 1997 to 2002. Kilpatrick resigned as mayor in September 2008 after being convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to four months in jail and was released on probation after serving 99 days.
Mark Ridley-Thomas is an American politician. He spent three terms on the Los Angeles City Council from the 8th district from 1991 to 2002, and again for the 10th district from 2020 until his expulsion from the council in 2022. He was a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for the 2nd Supervisorial District from 2008 to 2020, a California State Senator representing the 26th district from 2006 to 2008, and was a California State Assemblyman representing the 48th district from 2002 until 2006. He was Chairman of the Assembly Democratic Caucus.
The 2008 United States Senate election in Michigan was held on November 4, 2008 Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Carl Levin won reelection to a sixth and final term.
The 2008 congressional elections in Michigan were held on November 4, 2008, to determine who would represent the state of Michigan in the United States House of Representatives. Michigan had fifteen seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States Census. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected will serve in the 111th Congress from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. The election coincided with the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
Bertram "Bert" Johnson is a Democratic former member of the Michigan Senate and a convicted criminal.
The 2010 Michigan gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm was prohibited by the state's Constitution from seeking a third term. This resulted in a large pool of candidates which was whittled down, when the May 11 filing deadline passed, to two Democrats and five Republicans. Both the Cook Political Report and the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report rated the election as leaning Republican.
John J. "Johnny Doc" Dougherty is a prominent labor leader in Philadelphia. As a leader within the Philadelphia organized labor scene, Dougherty is a prominent political figure who helps Democratic candidates get elected by directing donations and volunteers.
Benny Nelson Napoleon was an American attorney, law enforcement officer, and politician who served as the Sheriff of Wayne County, Michigan. He was also a 2013 candidate for the office of Mayor of Detroit.
Brian Roderick Banks is an American politician who served as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017. Banks was a candidate for the 2nd District of the Michigan Senate in 2018. He has been convicted of eight felonies related to writing bad checks and credit card fraud.
Sherry J. Gay-Dagnogo is a current Detroit School Board Member elected citywide, a former Democratic member of the Michigan House of Representatives, of which represented the 8th District 2015-2021. The 8th House District includes portions of Northwest Detroit, including the Bethune, Brightmoor, Castle Rouge, College Park, and Grandmont-Rosedale communities. In January 2020, Gay-Dagnogo announced that she was forming a political committee to explore the possibility of running for Mayor of Detroit in 2021.
Larry Charles Inman is an American politician in the Republican Party who formerly represented the 104th District—which includes Grand Traverse County—in the Michigan House of Representatives after being elected in November 2014.
The 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the 14 U.S. representatives from the state of Michigan, one from each of the state's 14 congressional districts. The elections coincided with the elections of other offices, including a gubernatorial election, other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections. The filing deadline for candidates filing for the August 7 primary was April 24, 2018. Unless otherwise indicated, the Cook Political Report has rated the congressional races as safe for the party of the incumbent.
The 1918 United States Senate election in Michigan took place on November 5, 1918. Incumbent Republican Senator William Alden Smith did not seek re-election to a third term in office. In the race to succeed him, Republican former Secretary of the Navy Truman Handy Newberry defeated the automobile industrialist Henry Ford. Ford first challenged Newberry in the Republican primary and lost and then faced Newberry again, running as the Democratic nominee in the general election.
Elissa Blair Slotkin is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from Michigan's 7th congressional district since 2019. The district, numbered as the 8th district from 2019 to 2023, is based in Lansing and stretches into Detroit's outer western suburbs.
Events from the year 1940 in Michigan.
Events from the year 1946 in Michigan included the emergence of anti-graft crusader Kim Sigler and his election as governor, a strike by the United Auto Workers, and supply-chain problems that slowed production in the automobile industry. The year's major sports stories included the 1946 Detroit Tigers finishing second in the American League with Hal Newhouser winning 26 games and finishing second in voting for the most valuable player award. Notable deaths in 1946 included former Michigan football coach Fielding H. Yost. Notable births in Michigan included comedienne and actress Gilda Radner and writer/director Paul Schrader
A special election for Michigan's 13th congressional district was held on November 6, 2018, following the resignation of Democratic U.S. Representative John Conyers.
Brenda B. Jones is an American politician who served as a member of the Detroit City Council from 2006 to 2022, and as the president of the City Council from 2014 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, Jones also briefly served as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 13th congressional district from November 29, 2018, to January 3, 2019. She won the 2018 special election to succeed John Conyers following his resignation in December 2017, and was succeeded by Rashida Tlaib. She ran for the seat again in 2020, losing the Democratic primary to Tlaib by a wide margin.
The Allentown 2019 special mayoral election was held on May 19, 2019 following the resignation of Democratic mayor Ed Pawlowski. Incumbent interim Democratic mayor Ray O'Connell defeated Republican challenger Timothy Ramos.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
