A $4,745 tab at a steakhouse in Washington, D.C.

A $3,934 bill for a stay at a swanky hotel in San Francisco.

$27,071 for Detroit Lions tickets.

In the past six years, Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon spent hundreds of thousands of dollars from his campaign account on upscale restaurants, flights, hotel stays, golf outings, taxis, home decor, sporting and concert tickets, and even a massage parlor in Sacramento, California and a strip club in Chicago, according to a Metro Times review of hundreds of pages of campaign finance records.

State law prohibits the use of campaign funds for personal use. Donations are supposed to pay for campaigning or job-related expenses. In a 2015 memo to officeholders, the Michigan Secretary of State's Office said "committee funds cannot be treated as the candidate's personal funds or disbursed for the candidate's personal use."

Intentionally violating the Michigan Campaign Finance Act is punishable by up to 90 days in jail, and in some cases, five years in prison. Elected leaders can also be prohibited from running for future office.

Since 2016, Napoleon has received a whopping $525,000 in political donations, far more than every local official aside from Mayor Mike Duggan. Running for a third full term, Napoleon easily beat opponents Charles Corley II and T.P. Nykoriak, getting 80% of the vote in the primary election last week. Without a strong opponent, Napoleon has spent a small fraction of his donations on campaigning, choosing instead to use the money on what he calls "work-related" restaurant visits, sporting events, and travel. He's running unopposed in the general election on Noc. 2, 2020.

...

Here are some unusual expenses we found on Napoleon's campaign finance reports:

• $1,502 at Bed Bath & Beyond

• $1,379 at Best Buy

• $1,440 at the Detroit Yacht Club

• $521 on a single Uber ride

• $7,096 at florists

• $4,353 at dry cleaners

• $700 on "gifts"

• $541 for tabs at Hooters in Orlando, Las Vegas, San Diego, and Washington, D.C.

https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/wayne-county-sheriff-benny-napoleon-has-been-lavishing-his-campaign-funds-on-pretty-much-everything-except-actually-campaigning/Content?oid=25108504