The body of former Detroit Metropolitan Airport supervisor James Warner was found in his garage after he committed suicide the day he was due to appear for a prison sentence of years on bribery charges.
According to the Court’s spokesman, the body was found on Friday at his home in Commerce Township.
Warner, aged 55, had been convicted of 10 crimes related to bribery, theft, conspiracy to launder money and obstruction of justice in June 2019. According to prosecutors, the former supervisor had diverted $43,7 million in airport contracts to three co-conspirators, including William Pritula, Douglas Earles and Gary Tenaglia. , in exchange for more than $6 million in bribes.
This figure was considered the highest total in the history of public corruption cases in Metro Detroit, as well as the third largest in the country’s history.
Before Warner was found dead, both prosecutors and defense attorneys had argued over the former airport chief’s bail, discussing whether he would commit suicide or flee while on bail.
Warner was allowed to remain free on bail after being declared guilty as charged.
Nevertheless, prosecutors had fought to keep Warner in jail after his sentence in February of 2020, where they noted his long jail sentence and his hi history of mental health that put him at risk of absconding.
It was revealed that Warner had had problems with problems such as depression, suicidal thoughts and treatment for bipolar and major depressive disorders, which led to prosecutors to ask the judge for a prison sentence before an appeal from the court.
“He has struggled with severe depression and suicidal thoughts for most of his life,” said the prosecutor federal deputy Eaton Brown in a court filing of 2020.
“Six months after confessing to FBI agents that he had accepted bribes and kickbacks from airport contractors in this case, his family found him intoxicated with carbon monoxide in a shed near his house.”
Although he tried for two years to vacate the conviction, he was later ordered to surrender his bail release case after the Supreme Court of the United States refuse to review it. An arrest warrant was then obtained for Warner prior to the discovery of his body.
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