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Former Romulus mayor pleads guilty to wire fraud in campaign fund scheme

LeRoy Burcroff served as mayor of Romulus for 2 terms

Gavel (Photo by EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA)

ROMULUS, Mich. – The former mayor of Romulus pleaded guilty on Thursday to wire fraud of campaign funds.

United States Attorney Dawn Ison announced that 58-year-old LeRoy Burcroff devised and executed a scheme to defraud donors to his committee to elect fund. These funds were reportedly used for Burcroff’s personal benefit instead of his election.

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According to officials, over $15,000 of Burcroff’s campaign funds were misused. The wire fraud charge has a maximum sentence of 20 years and a fine of $250,000.

Burcross was elected mayor of Romulus in 2013 and 2017.

Below are a few examples of how the campaign money was spent:

  • November 2017: Burcroff spent over $6,000 in campaign funds to pay for a family member’s wedding. This includes a church fee, a banquet room rental, flowers, and a $4,500 bill for alcohol.
  • 2017 and 2018: Burcroff spent $11,600 in dues and expenses to the Belleville Yacht Club (BYC), which he used for his personal benefit. Officials state that Burcroff overpaid his dues on multiple occasions using his CTE account, causing the BYC to write him a check for $2,000 in December of 2017.
  • 2018: Burcroff made a $1,000 donation of CTE funds to a trade industry for his personal benefit.
  • 2019: Burcroff spent $3,000 of campaign funds on a personal vacation to Florida.

“Burcoff betrayed his supporters and neighbors, the people of Wayne County, by embezzling their donations to fund his lifestyle,” said James Tarasca, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office. “The FBI prioritizes exposing corrupt public officials whose greed erodes the public’s confidence in government.”

Previous coverage: Former mayor of Romulus accused of using campaign money for personal expenses


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