Last year, contractor Bobby Ferguson was fighting in federal court to remain a free man as he battled charges that he was involved in a bid-rigging scheme to land a lucrative city contract.
He lucked out. The jury deadlocked and he walked free.
Several months later, however, he found himself on trial in another case, this time with his good buddy Kwame Kilpatrick. Last March, he wasn't so lucky. He was convicted in that trial of multiple corruption charges and was later sentenced to 21 years in prison.
The retrial in the bid-rigging case begins in federal court Tuesday with jury selection. Ferguson is accused of rigging a bid with two associates to land a $12-million public housing project.
This time, Ferguson won't be fighting for his freedom. That's been lost. He'll come from prison daily instead of home.
Some might ask: Why bother prosecuting the guy in this case when he's already serving 21 years?
For one, the prosecution is already prosecuting some co-defendants in the case. It figures, it doesn't cost anything more to prosecute Ferguson, even though Ferguson will have a court-appointed attorney, which will cost the taxpayers money.
The prosecution of Ferguson could also act as insurance policy in the event -- as big a long shot as it is -- that Ferguson gets his corruption conviction in the Kilpatrick trial overturned on appeal.
That would let Ferguson walk free -- at least temporarily.
