Day 35: Kwame Kilpatrick told me to hire Bobby Ferguson, business titan says; used his jet, too

DETROIT (WXYZ) - Earlier today, 7 Action News Investigator Ross Jones blogged all the details to come out of the Kwame Kilpatrick corruption trial.  Follow along:

1:00--The end: That's all for the day.  Expect a memorable cross-examination for Mr. Soave tomorrow.

12:57--Offer to reimburse? Soave says Kilpatrick never offered to reimburse him: not for the watch, shoes, flights, hotels, or anything. 

12:56--NBA Finals tickets: Soave also gave Kilpatrick floor seats to the NBA finals from a few years back, when the Detroit Pistons were actually good.  The two tickets cost $10,000 total.

12:54--Cash payments: The payments made to the hotel were cash.  The first $3,500 were from Soave, he said.  Another $4,000 was put down, but Soave can't recall if it was his money or Kilpatrick's. At $1,500 a night, I guess the cash really just drains away.

Total cost of the visit?  $9,398. 

12:50--Naples property: Another 7 Action News Investigation is making its way into the trial.  In April, 2007, Soave said he got a call while he was at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida.  It was Kilpatrick.

"He and his family wanted to come down, he couldn't get any rooms and he wanted to know if I could help get him some rooms," Soave said.

Soave said he talked to a trainer in the gym, who helped him secure two rooms for Kilpatrick.  Soave said he gave the trainer $3,500 to secure the rooms.

We exposed this trip in 2008, folks. 

12:47--New York, New York: Soave is now talking about a trip he took with Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty to do some Christmas shopping in the Big Apple. 

"We had dinner and we went shopping," Soave said.

"I paid for a pair of shoes and a purse, and a watch."

Not just any watch, though.  A $6,000 Cartier watch that the Mayor said he would give to his father Bernard.  The purse was $1,200 and the shoes were $800.

My guess is they weren't shopping at the flea markets my mom enjoys.

12:45--Hard to say no: Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bullotta asked Soave why he didn't say no to the mayor when he asked to use his jet.

"I didn't want to get on the wrong side of him.  I wanted to keep him happy," Soave said.

"I didn't want him holding up another job. There was one job help up.  I didn't want that happening again."

12:43--Pay me, please: After a while, Soave said he suggested that Kilpatrick pay him for the use.

"At one point, I talked about billing him for all these flights, 'cause they were a lot of flights," Soave said.

"He said he would look into it," Soave said. He was never paid.

12:42--Total cost of jets: The high-flying retail value of the jet travel Kilpatrick enjoyed for free $389,874.

In addition to these potentially be bribes, Kilpatrick could also face some tax issues here. 

12:37--Destinations:  The Bahamas, Houston, Bermuda, Boston, Naples, Orlando, Tallahassee and more.  These are just some of the destinations that Kilpatrick was flown to, courtesy of Tony Soave's private jets. 

12:32--20 trips: Soave says he provided Kilpatrick with about 20 round trip flights--or 40 individual flights--to Kilpatrick on his various jets. 

12:30--The jets: And then there were the free jet trips.  7 Action News first exposed those years ago, but Soave is talking about them for the first time in court right now.

Soave says that during the 2003 blackout, he provided Kilpatrick with a private jet to take him to Bahamas.  He says Kilpatrick's close aide Derrick Miller arranged the flight.

The pilot couldn't get clearance to leave the Bahamas, though, so Soave couldn't provide that trip. He got back another way.

But then, Kilpatrick wanted to return (apparently, he left his family in the Bahamas).  Soave provided him the jet again. 

12:27--The Civic Fund: Soave says Kilpatrick asked him to contribute to his Civic Fund, and so Soave wrote a check from his company for $75,000.

"I thought it was to do something with the city kids, some kind of civic thing," he said.

He gave two other checks for $50,000, too. Total: $175,000.

12:22--Ferguson wants more: Soave said he was told by his vice-president that Ferguson wanted to work with him on future jobs, and wanted 50% of his future city business.  But Tony wasn't playing ball.

"I told him to go F himself.  I'd rather not get the work than partner with him," Soave said.

12:05--Problems with Bobby: One of Soave's VP's Kathleen McCann told him, he says, that she knew Ferguson's reputation and that he "was a handful."  Still, Soave worked with him.

McCann also said Ferguson told her than "you guys realize you are here because of me," saying that he was the only reason they received the major city job. 

McCann also told Soave that Ferguson often didn't complete his work. 

11:55--Bombshell: Soave says he asked the mayor what was the holdup with his contract, which he was ready to begin work on.

“He told me I had the wrong subcontractor,” Soave said, who was using Charlie Williams as a subcontractor.

He said the Mayor told him to hire Bobby Ferguson.  Soave said he agreed.

11:54--Holdover contract: Soave said that after a major sewer contract appeared to be held up, he called Kilpatrick and asked for a meeting. 

11:52--Kwame visits: Soave said that he received a visit from Kilpatrick in 2002 not long after he took office as Mayor.  He said Kilpatrick asked him why he didn't support him (Soave supported Gil Hill), and Soave says he told him he just didn't know him.  He described the meeting as cordial.

11:43--Inland Waters: Soave is talking about his company  Inland Waters, which we've heard a little about already from other's testimony.  Inland Waters ended up hiring Bobby Ferguson on a city job that was somewhat controversial.  You'll recall that businessmen from Lakeshore Engineering testified that they had a contract pulled out from them which ultimately went to Inland Waters. 

11:40--Here comes Soave: Ladies and gentleman, here comes Mr. Soave.  We've heard a lot about him in this trial--specifically, lots of flights he gave to the mayor--but we haven't heard from Soave.  Until now.

11:30--Bernard's cash: Getting back to the mayor's father's cash, Shea is trying to suggest that all that cash put into his client's accounts could be perfectly benign.  He's pointing out that Bernard Kilpatrick fancied himself as quite a gambler.  But, as the IRS agent on the stsand points out, he wasn't a very good one: his annual losses always exceeded his annual gains.

Shea says, though, that these huge cash deposits could have come from some of his good days at the casino, or even other sources.

"You don't know how much of this money represents Karl Kado's money, birthday gifts...any innumerable sources of cash," Shea said.

Schuch agreed. But if Bernard Kilpatrick is getting $50,000 in cash on his birthday, I'd like to meet his  grandmother. 

11:23--Soave should be next: We expect that the government's next witness will be Grosse Pointe businessman--and really rich guy--Tony Soave.  He'll be testifying, among other things, about alleged extortion. 

Right now, though, Bernard Kilpatrick's lawyer John Shea is quizzing agent Schuch about her investigation into Bernard Kilpatrick's finances.  Schuch says, in an interview she conducted with Karl Kado, he said it was understood that he was to pay Bernard Kilpatrick in cash.  Shea argues, though, that his client never said how he wanted to be paid. So how could Kado know?

11:14--Deep pockets: Bernard Kilpatrick deposited $605,055 into his personal bank accounts between 2002 and 2008, the years that his son was Detroit's mayor.

11:10--Next witness: IRS agent Rowena Schuch is now on the stand.  She's talking about her investigation into Bernard Kilpatrick's finances.

10:55--Bobby & Me: While we're on this break, I feel I should share something with you, my loyal audience.  Like many others who've testified for this trial, I've given Bobby Ferguson money. 

Wait, it's not what you think. You see, we were standing in line at the court snack shop.  I was ahead of Ferguson, and had just bought my customary Diet Dr. Pepper for $1.50.  Problem is, I only had a $20, and almost cleared out the snack guy of all his change.

Bobby was behind me with two waters ($2.50), and also had only a $20.

"I can't break that, " said the snack shop manager.

Ferguson looked slightly terrified.  Apparently, he really likes staying hydrated. 

So, feeling largely to blame for wiping out the snack shop's change, I told Ferguson I'd cover his waters today and he could pay me back next time he saw me. 

I'll keep you posted.

10:40--Short break: The judge is giving everyone a chance to stretch their legs.  Stay with us.

10:35--No fireworks: As wiretaps go, that was a pretty boring one.

"It seems like a run of the mill payment dispute," Shea said.

Beeckman agreed.

10:31--Kwame calls dad: The defense just played a wiretapped phone call between Kwame Kilpatrick and his father regarding Kado's request for payments from the City of Detroit.

"Your guy that just called," the mayor told his father.

The mayor tells him that there are a number of charges that Kado wants to be paid for that Kilpatrick and others have deemed inappropriate.

"There’s no way we’re paying them for that, a  furnace…other stuff.  What he has is $180,000 to $200,000 in legitimate charges we definitely owe him," he said.

Later, Kilpatrick acknowledged that Kado was owed some money. 

"We know we owe him, he says he wants money for other stuff…no way we’re paying him for that.  There’s a furnace on here…we can’t pay for that," the mayor said.

"See, I told him the structural stuff was going be a problem," Bernard Kilpatrick responded.

10:20--New details: Under cross-examination by Bernard Kilpatrick's lawyer John Shea, Beeckman is being asked about the previously mentioned frisking that took place between Kado and Bernard.  Remember, it was Kado who said after he told the mayor's dad that he received a letter from the feds (explaining that he was the target of a public corruption probe), Bernard Kilpatrick frisked him, searching for a wire.

But Kado didn't tell Beeckman about that until a year later.  So the defense's point: if he didn't even mention the encounter at the time, who's to say he didn't make the whole thing up?

10:04--Other possible charges: Thomas is asking Beeckman about the possible charges that Kado faced as the FBI looked into him.  Beeckman acknowledges that there were others that he wasn't ultimately charged with, like bribery.  He was only charged (and plead guilty to) filing false tax returns.

Thomas's point: Kado got a sweet deal in exchange for cooperating with the feds.  This is not a new argument by any stretch, but it's one that the defense wants jurors to remember. 

9:55--Inconsistent? The feds did a nice job strengthening Kado's testimony using texts.  Now, the defense is trying to throw some cold water on that by highlighting some of the inconsistent details that Kado provided in his interviews with the feds.  For example, initially he told Beeckman that he paid the mayor with cash stuffed in an envelope.  But in trial, he said it was a brown paper bag. 

Beeckman doesn't seem impressed with the discrepancy, but Kilpatrick's lawyer thinks it's significant.

9: 45--Govt . finished: The U.S. Attorney is done with Beeckman for now, and Jim Thomas who represents Kwame Kilpatrick is up now.

9:42--Kilpatrick calls Kado: A text message corroborates the fact that Kilpatrick and Kado were talking to each other in January 2004.

"Mr. Mayor, Carl Kado just called you.  He missed your call just now," said his aide Meagan R. Pitts in a text to the mayor.

Remember, Kado said Kilpatrick sometimes called him and asked for money.

9:40--Leave with a letter: Another text from Bernard Kilpatrick from February 2003 directed Derrick Miller to leave with a letter from the Cobo director for Karl Kado.

"Make sure he leaves your office with the letter," wrote Bernard Kilpatrick.

"I would really like a copy of it to check on both Lou and Carl (sic)…is your meeting in the morning?"

Two days later, a letter was sent to Karl Kado, informing him he'd been awarded an electrical contract with Cobo Hall.

9:30--Bernard, Miller texts: Like they have done earlier, the feds are using text messages to try to strengthen (and put a bow on) the testimony of Karl Kado regarding his Cobo contracts. Right now, we're being shown text messages between Bernard Kilpatrick--who Kado said he was extorted by to keep his Cobo contracts--and Derrick Miller, the mayor's right hand man.

Bernard Kilpatrick wrote: "Last thing (for today) you have to call Lou and give O.K. for Karl to deal with the electrical contract in June."

Lou is Lou Pavledes, the Director of Cobo Hall.  He was a Kilpatrick appointee.

The following week, he sent another: "It’s time to call Lou on the Carl (sic) deal…exactly like maintenance."

It appears he was referring to a contract that Kado was seeking. 

9:22--Kado: Yesterday, we heard from Kado that he thought he might be suffering from dementia. While it doesn't sound like it was ever diagnosed, he did mention it to at least one FBI agent.  Not surprisingly, the defense jumped on that admission, and did its best to use it to discredit Kado as a witness.

Beeckman was asked if Kado seemed like he suffered from memory loss during their meetings.  Beeckman said he seemed normal throughout their more than 50 interactions.

9:20--First witness: FBI agent Robert Beeckman, the lead agent on this case, is back up on the stand today.  He was first asked by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bullotta about lottery tickets purchased by Bernard Kilpatrick at Karl Kado's brothers store in the Millender Center.  Kado, you'll recall, is a former Cobo contractor who said he was extorted by Kilpatrick and his son the mayor.

Well, he didn't exactly pay at the beginning.  The tickets were sort of loaned to him by Kado's brother. He eventually paid them off. 

And for at least one of those tickets, Bernard didn't have much luck.  We just heard a wiretapped call that Bernard made to Kado's brother to see what the winning numbers were for one of his tickets.  He was disappointed to learn--surprise--that he didn't win.

9:15--Welcome back: It's day 35, folks.  Thanks to a ceremony to swear-in new attorneys today, there was a very, very lengthy line to get into the building today.  Court's starting a little late because of that today.