Two take responsibility in ticket bribes case

DETROIT (AP) — A former Detroit court clerk and a longtime acquaintance who authorities say took about $20,000 in bribes to dismiss more than $40,000 in traffic tickets and fines have accepted responsibility in the case.

The office of Michigan’s attorney general says Annette Bates, an ex-36th District Court clerk, and Charles Fair pleaded guilty to forgery.

A judge last Friday ordered Bates to serve four years of probation and pay $10,000 in restitution. Fair’s sentencing is March 14.

Charges last year followed an investigation involving Attorney General Bill Schuette’s office and the FBI’s public corruption task force.

Schuette says over a two-year period the Detroit residents forged dismissals of traffic tickets, fines and citations in the name of 36th District Court judges.