A former aide to Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano is the latest person charged in a federal corruption probe of county government. David Edwards, 41, of Detroit, who resigned last month from his $110,000-a-year job in the department of technology, was charged Tuesday with one count of bribery for allegedly taking $13,000 from a county contractor. Peter Henning, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches law at Wayne State University, said in the Free Press story that the most recent charge coming against a former county official marks a turning point in the case. He said public corruption prosecutors typically start outside of the government and work their way inside. "You start with the lower-level employees and work your way up," Henning said. The information against Edwards, as opposed to an indictment, likely means he plans to cooperate "in exchange for an expectation of a reduced sentence," Henning said. He added that the pace of charges coming "does signal that there was probably a lot more corruption than anyone expected. Or they are finding it faster."

http://www.freep.com/article/20120509/NEWS02/205090435/Former-aide-to-Robert-Ficano-charged-in-federal-corruption-probe?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120509/METRO01/205090379/Ex-Ficano-aide-expected-plead-Monday-bribery-charge?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE