Grosse Pointe Farms businessman Tony Soave reiterated Thursday that Kwame Kilpatrick strong-armed him into hiring the mayor’s pal and bankrolling Hizzoner’s millionaire lifestyle.
Soave emerged from almost four hours of cross-examination largely unscathed and unruffled — a rarity for key government witnesses during the trial. He calmly deflected defense questions about his business empire and relationship with Kilpatrick — and easily deflected a “your mamma” joke.
Soave was so relaxed he tossed several zingers about his mental state and tough reputation.
Soave returns to face more defense questions at 9 a.m. Friday in federal court.
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Tony Soave’s home along Lake Shore Road in Grosse Pointe Farms
Kwame Kilpatrick’s lawyer suggested city contractor Tony Soave let the ex-mayor fly for free on his private jets because they were good friends — not as part of a bribery or extortion scam.
Prosecutors allege Kilpatrick received free flights worth more than $385,000, New York City shopping trips bankrolled by Soave and other perks.
Soave says he was extorted.
Under cross-examination by Kilpatrick lawyer Harold Gurewitz, Soave admitted he was “friendly” with Kilpatrick, who visited his mansion in Grosse Pointe Farms several times.
The lawyer referenced a national blackout in August 2003, when Kilpatrick tried to fly on Soave’s private jet from the Bahamas back to Detroit.
“You did that for the benefit of the city,” Gurewitz said.
“I was called to see if I could go pick him up,” Soave said. “I tried.”
But power woes prevented the pickup, Soave said.
Kwame Kilpatrick outside federal court.
Contractor Tony Soave dropped another juicy quote during testimony in the City Hall corruption trial Thursday.
Soave was facing questions about his April 2002 meeting with ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick allegedly told the Grosse Pointe Farms businessman to dump his minority subcontractor and hire the mayor’s pal Bobby Ferguson on a $50 million sewer deal.
“It’s hard to remember details,” of the long-ago meeting, Kilpatrick lawyer Harold Gurewitz suggested to Soave.
Karl Kado
“I don’t have dementia if that’s what you’re saying,” Soave said.
That’s an apparent reference to another key government witness, Karl Kado.
Kado, who allegedly was extorted by Kilpatrick and his father, told jurors earlier this week he might have dementia.
Soave reiterated Thursday that the mayor told him to hire Ferguson.
“When I left, I knew what I had to do,” Soave testified.
Kilpatrick’s lawyer pressed him about whether the mayor explicitly told Soave to hire Ferguson or risk losing the $50 million contract and future city work.
“He never said that,” Gurewitz said.
Soave agreed.
“He did not say that,” Soave said.
Bobby Ferguson
Soave told a grand jury probing City Hall corruption that the threat was implied, Gurewitz insisted.
“It was implied, wasn’t it?” the lawyer asked. “That was your answer.”
“Yes,” Soave said.
On Thursday, Soave said Kilpatrick told him to hire Ferguson.
“You keep on not understanding me,” Soave told Kilpatrick’s lawyer. “He said use Bobby Ferguson. You don’t want to hear it, but I keep on telling you that’s the way it went.”
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, left, walks with Bobby Ferguson as abandoned homes are torn down in Detroit in 2002.
There were rumors swirling three months into ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s tenure that city contracts were being steered to his pal, Bobby Ferguson, according to testimony Thursday.
Kilpatrick’s lawyer showed jurors an internal memo from one of contractor Tony Soave’s lawyers to suggest the Grosse Pointe Farms businessman was relying on gossip to conclude the mayor was steering work to Ferguson.
Soave’s lawyer sent him a memo in March 2002 expressing concern about the mayor delaying contracts. The contracts were previously awarded to companies headed by businessmen — like Soave — who supported Kilpatrick’s rival in the 2001 election: Councilman Gil Hill — who played a foul-mouthed police inspector in “Beverly Hills Cop.”
From the memo:
“We have heard through several sources that contracts involving anyone who supported Gil Hill are being messed with and/or other contracts are being scrutinized to try to get work to a group of contractors who supported Kilpatrick in his election…in particular, Bobby Ferguson, Frank Torre, Lakeshore Engineering.”
The memo also alleged Kilpatrick’s office was holding up a $50 million deal with Soave’s firm Inland Waters because the contract did not involve the right minority subcontractor.
The memo prompted Soave to meet with Kilpatrick in April 2002.
The meeting ended with Soave dumping his minority contractor and hiring Ferguson, the mayor’s close friend.
Bobby Ferguson
Prominent Grosse Pointe Farms businessman Tony Soave admitted Thursday he did not personally know whether ex-Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had any involvement in holding up a $50 million sewer deal.
Soave made the concession during cross-examination as contractor Bobby Ferguson’s lawyer, Michael Rataj, tried countering allegations Kilpatrick steered work to his pal.
A day earlier, Soave testified about a meeting he had with Kilpatrick in April 2002 following delays in a city deal with his firm, Inland Waters.
The meeting ended with Soave dumping his minority contractor and hiring Ferguson, the mayor’s close friend.
“You had no personal knowledge that Mr. Kilpatrick had anything to do with holding up the contract,” Rataj said.
“I don’t know,” Soave said.
“You don’t know, right,” Rataj said. “And anything you heard…was from your people.”
Soave agreed.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds
Defense lawyer Michael Rataj, known for his intensity and aggressive questions, clashed with the federal judge overseeing the City Hall corruption case.
Bobby Ferguson’s lawyer tried several times to question contractor Tony Soave about behind-the-scenes moves related to a water department contract.
Soave couldn’t recall details and U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds repeatedly blocked the line of questioning after prosecutors objected.
Frustrated, Rataj demanded a private chat with the judge and fellow attorneys.
“Let’s have a sidebar!” Rataj said, walking to the side of the judge’s bench.
She stopped him.
“Do you get to call the sidebar?” Edmunds said.
Rataj froze.
Then, Edmunds called a sidebar.
Bobby Ferguson’s lawyer was poised to probe Tony Soave’s controversial past, including his former ties to known mob associates, when prosecutors objected Thursday.
Michael Rataj
Following a brief sidebar, Ferguson lawyer Michael Rataj veered away from talking about Soave’s background, including an arrest that was expunged from his record. It is unclear if U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds barred Ferguson’s lawyer from exploring that line of questioning.
The News covered Soave’s background in a 1999 story, the remnants of which can be found here.
From the report:
Soave, who has made a fortune in the garbage hauling business, was arrested along with 20 other men in 1971 on illegal gambling charges but the case was dismissed because prosecutors did not get proper signatures on a federal wiretap order. The arrest was expunged from his record in 1990.
Perhaps more troubling are his documented contacts with alleged organized crime figures in Detroit and New Jersey.
Those contacts were spelled out in a New Jersey State Police report on Soave and his company, compiled in 1991 when he applied for a trash-hauling license there. New Jersey police cited several social and business deals with mob figures.
Soave denied any wrongdoing, saying payments by his company to companies linked to the mob were not his responsibility.
“I don’t choose the contractors on the job. That is not my role. I am the owner,” Soave told the News.
He said his contacts with a New Jersey mob associate, Joseph Riggi, were social and he did not know Riggi was under investigation. Riggi, a former union business manager, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for labor racketeering and extortion.
“I know I didn’t do anything wrong … I’ve been investigated over and over and there’s been nothing,” Soave said.
Michael Rataj
A defense lawyer attacked Tony Soave”s claims that contractor Bobby Ferguson was difficult to deal with and threw his weight around during a $50 million sewer deal.
The cross-examination was filled with quips and profanity and featured several entertaining exchanges during the high-stakes City Hall corruption trial.
Ferguson’s defense team strategically picked attorney Michael Rataj — a former U.S. Marine and college hockey player known for aggressive questioning — to handle cross-examination of the rich and powerful Grosse Pointe Farms businessman.
“You never told Mr. Kilpatrick ‘would you please tell Ferguson to stop threatening my people,’” Rataj said.
Kwame Kilpatrick left gestures to passers by as he and Ferguson leave federal court Aug. 8.
“No,” Soave said.
“You had plenty of opportunities, yes?” Rataj asked. “You testified you took a bunch of trips together, right?”
“Not a bunch,” Soave said. “Two or three.”
Soave never griped about Ferguson when he allegedly bought Kilpatrick $10,000 worth of tickets to a 2004 Detroit Pistons playoff game, Rataj said.
Soave disagreed, saying he never went to the game with the Detroit mayor.
“I couldn’t afford any more tickets,” Soave said.
“You’re not the kind of person someone can intimidate or threaten easily, isn’t that true?” Rataj asked.
“By certain people I can get pushed around,” Soave said.
“Your mother?” Rataj asked.
“My grand kids,” Soave said.
“Not in the business world,” Rataj said. “No one pushes you around, isn’t that true?”
As an example, he reminded jurors that Soave allegedly told Ferguson — Kilpatrick’s pistol-whipping pal — to “f— himself.”
“I have been pushed around before,” Soave said.
Again, Rataj suggested no one can intimidate Soave.
Soave disagreed.
“My grand kids, and you,” Soave said.
Bobby Ferguson’s lawyer suggested prominent businessman Tony Soave is too tough and rich to be strong-armed and shaken down by Kwame Kilpatrick and pal Bobby Ferguson.
“Not being a pushover is a key in the contracting business, wouldn’t you agree?” lawyer Michael Rataj asked.
“It’s a rough and tough business,” said the Grosse Pointe Farms businessman, who prosecutors allege was extorted by Kilpatrick.
“And you’ve got to be rough and tough and you’re a tough guy, aren’t you,” Rataj said.
“No,” Soave said, “I’m a lovable guy.”
Kilpatrick and other lawyers in the courtroom exploded in laughter at the joke, which came from a mogul who sold his garbage-hauling company for $750 million, and who has had contacts with known mob associates.
“You’re a tough businessman,” Soave said.
“I try to be tough and fair,” Soave said.
Bobby Ferguson’s lawyer launched a cross-examination of businessman Tony Soave on Thursday by exhaustively listing the mogul’s business ventures to show jurors the entrepreneur”s power and wealth — some of which allegedly benefited ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
Defense lawyers contend Soave was so rich and powerful that it is inconceivable the mogul could be extorted by Kilpatrick and co-defendants and intentionally aligned himself with powerful politicians.
Tony Soave
Soave has interests in car dealerships, an aviation company, residential construction, a scrapyard, a cab company and a hydroponic greenhouse operation — so many ventures that he couldn’t recall all the details.
One of his former firms, Inland Waters, factors into the City Hall corruption indictment and an allegedly shady sewer deal.
Ferguson lawyer Michael Rataj cited a Forbes article listing Soave Enterprises as one of the country’s largest private companies and asked if he was worth $2.5 billion.
“I don’t know where you got that,” Soave said.
Rataj asked about one related firm, MPS Trading.
“What does MPS stand for?” Rataj asked.
“I don’t know,” Soave said. “I just know the initials. I didn’t chose that name.”
“Do you know how many companies you own?” Rataj asked.
“No,” Soave said.
“Is it over 50?” Rataj asked.
“I can check for you if you want,” Soave said.
Either way, Soave is rich, Rataj argued.
“It’s a lot of muchachos,” Soave said.
“I’d take about one-tenth of that,” Rataj said.
Ex-Detroit Mayor Coleman Young
Rataj said Soave had close ties with politicians, including former Detroit Mayor Coleman Young and ex-Michigan Gov. John Engler.
“You would admit that it is good to be friends with politicians,” Rataj said.
“It is good to be friends with the mayor in the city you’re working,” Soave said.
“The reason you curry friendships with politicians is for access, right?” Rataj asked.
“Yes,” Soave said.
Soave also hired politically connected bureaucrats, Rataj said.
One example: Former Detroit Water and Sewerage Department Director Charlie J. Williams, who at one time served as Young’s chief of staff.
Williams was a minority subcontractor on a $50 million sewer deal until Kilpatrick allegedly told Soave he was the reason the city deal had stalled.
Ferguson — the mayor’s pal — was the right subcontractor, Kilpatrick allegedly said.
Soave dumped Williams and hired Ferguson, according to testimony — paving the way for the deal’s approval.
Williams’ company had no employees and no equipment, Rataj said.
“Charlie Williams was nothing more than a minority front,” Rataj told Soave.
“That is not true,” Soave said.
Kwame Kilpatrick outside his vacation home in Tallahassee, Fla., on Jan. 24, 2008, preparing to fly back to Detroit.
Frequent alleged extorter Kwame Kilpatrick was a frequent flyer on Air Soave, according to the feds.
In all, Kilpatrick, his cronies, family, bodyguards and mistress enjoyed $385,000 worth of flights on Grosse Pointe Farms businessman Tony Soave’s fleet of private jets, according to the feds.
Kilpatrick bought this vacation home for $430,000 in June 2007in a golf course community in Tallahassee. (Mark Wallheiser / Special to The Detroit News/)
The most expensive flight, however, is the most intriguing.
On Jan. 23, 2008, the Detroit Free Press published Kilpatrick’s text messages, revealing an affair between the mayor and Chief of Staff Christine Beatty.
The same day, Kilpatrick flew to Tallahassee, Fla., for a family vacation — courtesy of Air Soave, according to prosecutors.
Kilpatrick and four others jetted to the family’s $430,000 vacation home. The News spotted Kilpatrick, his wife and their children outside the fancy digs on Jan. 24 as he prepared to fly home.
Total cost: $28,582
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