Benny Napoleon


Benny Napoleon is an American law enforcement officer and politician who is the current Sheriff of Wayne County, Michigan, and a 2013 candidate for the office of Mayor of Detroit.
Napoleon graduated from Cass Technical High School. He entered the Detroit Police in 1975, and rose through the ranks. He served as police chief from 1998-2001 under Dennis Archer. In 2004 he was made Assistant Wayne County Executive, and in 2009 he became Wayne County Sheriff.

Political career

In 2012, Brian Banks falsely claimed to be an attorney, leading Napoleon to endorse him. Napoleon's spokesman Dennis Niemiec said the Napoleon was unaware of Banks’ felony convictions and Napoleon said he did not previously know about Banks' felonies.

2013 Detroit Mayoral election

A Democrat, Napoleon entered Detroit politics in 2013, announcing his intentions to run for mayor in the city's non-partisan primary to replace Dave Bing, who announced he would not seek re-election after the appointment of an emergency manager for the city. During the primary campaign, he referred to himself as a "businessman with a badge" . Napoleon placed second in the primary despite his most serious competition, former Wayne County Prosecutor and Detroit Medical Center CEO Mike Duggan having to run as a write-in candidate, and lost the mayoral race to Mike Duggan on November 5, 2013.

FBI investigation

In December 2017, the Detroit Free Press obtained FBI wiretap transcripts that were unsealed in U.S. District Court. The investigation is linked to a corruption case against Gasper Fiore, the owner of Boulevard & Trumbull Towing, a large City of Detroit contractor. In December 2017, Fiore entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office, in which he agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit federal program bribery.
According to court documents, the government has probable cause that Fiore and 17 other targets were involved in several crimes, including: extortion, wire fraud, bribery and conspiracy to distribute marijuana. FBI Special Agent Robert Beeckman wrote in a wire tap request document reviewed by the Detroit News that "Evidence has been gathered showing that crimes involving corruption have been committed by some of the target subjects, including...Napoleon...."