Ex-Macomb County Engineer Pleads Guilty To Federal Charge

DETROIT (AP) - A former county official in suburban Detroit has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery as part of a corruption scandal.

Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel L. Lemisch announced 68-year-old former Macomb County chief engineer James Pistilli of Holly entered the plea Wednesday.

Lemisch says Pistilli, while working for a private engineering firm in 2014, conspired with others to pay a $2,000 cash bribe to Steven Hohensee, who was then the superintendent of the Department of Public Works for Washington Township. Pistilli did not know that Hohensee was cooperating with the FBI.

Pistilli faces up to five years' imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. He's scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 30, 2018.

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