On September 25, 2024, the former mayor of Inkster Patrick Wimberly, 50, got caught up in legal trouble. The former Mayor was investigated by the FBI for his actions.
This occurred due to him accepting bribes from a third-party group.
As of last year, Wimberly was investigated on illegal transactions by the FBI, from an unknown third-party that investigators referred to as “Person A”.
The conversation referring to the transactions has been going on for several months with the first amount sent being $5,000. Wimberly’s job was to facilitate the sale of property.
That information was published after the case was put on investigation on November 8, 2023. He was tasked to handle payments originally owned by the city. Since this has been going on for months the amount he demanded was $5,000 a month. Wimberly wanted a pay increase so Person A increased the pay to $10,000. At some point during his time as mayor in 2023, Wimberly demanded $100,000 in property sales tax.
Wimberly betrayed the trust of his city and his people for money which people have lost respect for him. Wimberly got greedy and started demanding more and more money, but never thought there was any consequence for doing their illegal transactions.
As far as we know only Person A is the only one who has a connection to the bribes besides Wimberly. Cheyvoryea Gibson, a special agent said. “Investigating public corruption is a primary concern and priority of the FBI in Michigan”.
Person A gave more funds to Wimberly but the Federal Bureau of Investigation prevented more money from being transferred over.
Wimberly violated a bribery charge and had a maximum prison sentence of 10 years with a fine of $250,000. Gibson said, “Mr Wimberly was elected to serve the people of Inkster, yet he prioritizes his interests and greed over their needs.”
Wimberly was affected by greed and money and not even doing what you were elected to do by your people. Even so, going behind your city’s back during your office term is unbelievable. This case went under investigation by the FBI’s Detroit Area Corruption Task Force who are still looking into this case.
In the city of Inkster, with a small population of 250,000 people. Former Mayor Patrick Wimberly lost the 2023 reelection to Byron H. Nolen. Wimberly’s action to the bribes await the citizens for his sentence. An announcement was made to the press about Wimberly’s case spoken by the U.S. Attorney said, “Public officials who act in their own best interests, motivated by greed, betray the trust of their communities and the general public,” and “We will continue to aggressively prosecute corrupt public officials for their illegal actions.”
October 2023 Wimberly made a statement acknowledging his wrongdoing to himself, and his people. In the statement, he said, “Did I put myself in a situation that I should’ve never been involved with? Yes, I did. I take full responsibility for that,” he said in a video. “I’m going to have to go through the process, but know that I’m standing here and I’m standing strong.
