DETROIT, MI, - March 11: Detroit contractor Bobby Ferguson (3rd L) arrives at U.S. District Court to hear the jurys verdict in his public corruption trial March 11, 2013 in Detroit, Michigan. Ferguson and former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick were co …
DETROIT (FOX 2) - A longtime friend of Detroit's disgraced ex-mayor Kwame Kilpatrick who was sentenced to decades in prison for bid rigging, extortion, and bribery before his release in 2021 has been banned from doing business with the city.
The city's Office of Inspector General debarred Bobby Ferguson from doing work with Detroit after it learned he had approached a high ranking official about contracting with one of the departments.
Ferguson "has not acted as a responsible contractor" for the city, the OIG report says, before determining he should be banned for 20 years from doing work with Detroit or any of its agencies.
Ferguson received a 21-year prison term before receiving a compassionate release in April 2021. According to media reports, the city canceled $1 million in contracts that had been awarded to a firm owned by his daughter.
According to BridgeDetroit, the city scrapped the deals amid concerns that Ferguson would be profiting from the work. He's since asked a judge to end his supervised release, citing hardships he's experienced in getting work under the current terms.
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Kilpatrick associate Bobby Ferguson released from prison early
Bobby Ferguson is free after he was granted a compassionate release eight years into his 21-year sentence.
Among them, Ferguson still owes more than $2.6 million in restitution to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.
In its determination, Inspector General Ellen Ha said Ferguson shouldn't be allowed to work with the city until 2033. A breakdown of Ferguson's past actions and convictions was listed in the OIG's report.
"We have a clear and direct mandate to hold contractors accountable and prevent those who would violate the trust of citizens by illegally benefiting from taxpayers' hard-earned dollars," Ha wrote.