Michigan billionaire Manuel “Matty” Moroun has made a career of stretching the law to its limits (some would call it foot dragging) in order to protect his lucrative interest in Detroit‘s Ambassador Bridge, the most important economic link between the U.S. and Canada.
On Thursday, after years of litigation, a frustrated judge decided Moroun had obstructed the law once too often, and threw him in jail for contempt.
Judge Prentis Edwards ordered Moroun, 84, to be held in the Wayne County jail, along with his right hand man, Dan Stamper, president of the Detroit International Bridge Co., until they comply with his order to finish building ramps that connect the bridge to nearby expressways. The bridge company agreed to the plan under a 2004 contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation to ease border crossings.
The state held up its end of the $230 million joint Gateway project by upgrading the I-75 and I-96 expressways. But instead of building the necessary access ramps, the bridge company built a roadway that directs traffic past its own lucrative duty-free store and fuel pumps, and onto local roads in southwest Detroit.
After his father was jailed, Moroun’s son, Matthew, released a statement condemning the action, saying the legal process had become “a personal vendetta by the judge” against his father and Stamper.
Matty Moroun probably won’t stay in jail for long. Stamper was jailed a year ago on the same charge, and the bridge company’s lawyers managed to get him out the same day. But the courtroom shocker — tossing an 84-year-old billionaire into the slammer — could have profound implications on Moroun’s long-running battle with authorities in the U.S. and Canada over construction of a second border crossing.
As an editorial in today’s Detroit Free Press points out, Moroun’s refusal to finish construction work he agreed to exposes the fact that he cares more about protecting his monopoly than doing what’s right for the public interest.
Moroun and associates are known for buying political influence. Last year, the Free Press reported that Moroun and his donor network gave almost $1.5 million to state and congressional candidates in the 2009-10 election cycle.
I suspect that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s plan for a publicly owned bridge that would compete with the Ambassador — shot down in the state Legislature — might get a fresh airing.
Stay tuned. This one’s getting very interesting.