Forty-seven year old Timothy Cromer was the focus of the FBI’s raid of the Detroit Public Library back in November 2012. Cromer was the library’s chief administrative and technology officer.
Christine MacDonald of the Detroit News has been writing about this case for some time. She reports that Cromer plead guilty to taking $1.4 million in kickbacks from contractors. Two Detroit Public Library contractors were also charged in the FBI’s case.
The Detroit library system closed libraries in 2011 to save about $1 million a year. MacDonald reports that Cromer helped recommend those closures.
More from the Detroit News:
Cromer has been the only library official charged in the FBI’s investigation. He faces up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 14. “The library system and its patrons were the real victims of this crime. We look forward to recovering all ill-gotten gains,” said library board member Russ Bellant. Cromer is prepared to pay restitution to the library system and wants to “accept responsibility for his actions, put this behind him and move on with his life,” said his attorney, Ben Gonek.
