Mark Naida

What Happened to the Weed Money for Mayor Sheffield's Charity? The owner of a Detroit pot shop donated tens of thousands to the mayor's charity, but that money isn't listed on the tax documents By Charlie LeDuff @Charlieleduff Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield is starting to remind me of disgraced former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. When the feds took Kwame to trial, the easiest thing for them to prove was that he used his tax-exempt charity—the Kilpatrick Civic Fund—as a personal piggy bank. It turned out that the Kwamster stole more than a half-million dollars from the charity that was supposed to go toward kids programs. Instead, Kilpatrick treated himself to golf clubs, exotic spa treatments, and a 2000 Cadillac DeVille with leather seats and wood-accented trim. Now comes Sheffield. Her ex-lover, Marvin Walker, claims she did the same thing while acting as city councilwoman. According to Walker, Sheffield would write him a check from her children’s charity—Detroit Donates—and have him cash it at the bank and then kick the money back directly to her. "It ended up in her pocket," Walker said, as he showed me a text message from Sheffield detailing how the scheme should work. There’s more. Sheffield’s charity—which is headquartered at her father’s activity center—was given about $40,000 over the last six years by Stuart Carter, a big marijuana guy in the city who owns a pot shop on the East Side called Utopia Gardens, as well as a grow operation and a processing center. According to his filings with state regulators, Carter claimed to have given the Sheffield charity six separate donations of $5,000 each, and one donation of $7,500. “And upon receiving a recreational adult use license,” Carter wrote to the state,“ (I) will be in a position to increase these donations substantially.” Carter did not respond to requests for comment. Here’s where Mary has serious troubles. According to federal tax law, any donation made to a charity of $5,000 or more must be listed on the charity’s tax forms. In the Utopia Gardens case, it was not. That’s a big problem. That’s how the feds got Capone. Now Marvin says Mary really likes the weed. In fact, Marvin gave me a photograph that he claims is a portrait of the two former lovebirds working in a grow house that Marvin SAYS Mary was a private investor in. That’s what Marvin claims, anyway. Sheffield’s camp had nothing to say to us. That’s okay. She can tell it to the FBI. But she better tell the truth. Lying to the feds can lead to a five-year bid in the federal penitentiary. Just ask Kwame. And people close to Sheffield are already talking to special agents. You don’t have to send Martin to the bank, madam. You can take that directly from me.