A lawsuit filed against Inkster Mayor Byron Nolen accuses him of extorting an Annapolis-area builder, demanding $5,000 from city contractors and asking one contractor about building him a new home. The allegations, first reported by The Detroit News, land in a small Wayne County suburb still reeling from a federal bribery case involving Nolen's own predecessor.
According to the lawsuit, as reported by The Detroit News, Nolen also told a businesswoman that she was fine and instructed her not to tell her husband. The suit further alleges Nolen asked a city contractor about building him a new home. Nolen has served as Inkster's mayor since reclaiming the office in 2023, and the lawsuit sets out allegations against him.
A City Still Shadowed by a Bribery Scandal
The accusations against Nolen arrive roughly a year after his predecessor, former Inkster Mayor Patrick Wimberly, was sentenced to two years in federal prison for demanding $100,000 in cash bribes from a land developer. Per the U.S. Department of Justice, Wimberly solicited the bribe money between 2022 and 2023 to help facilitate the sale of city-owned property, with cash payments arriving in monthly installments of $5,000 to $10,000 before the FBI intervened, after the developer had already paid $50,000 total.
The fallout from that case reached deeper into Inkster City Hall. Former mayoral executive assistant Saif Alsenad was sentenced to 18 months of probation in early 2026 after pleading guilty to lying to FBI agents investigating the municipal land bribery scheme, according to ClickOnDetroit. Alsenad had falsely claimed ignorance about Wimberly's solicitation of the $100,000 bribe, the outlet reported. Hoodline previously covered Alsenad's guilty plea as part of the broader federal probe.
From Water Rate Lawsuit to the Mayor's Office
Nolen's path to Inkster's mayoral seat began not in politics but in the courtroom. As detailed by Detroit is Different, he first gained local prominence representing residents in a lawsuit against the city over a 105% water rate increase, a case that won $3.5 million in rate credits after residents hired him. That reputation helped propel Nolen into his first stint as mayor from 2015 to 2019, before he lost to Wimberly.
Nolen returned to the office in 2023, defeating Wimberly at the ballot box while his predecessor was already facing federal bribery charges, according to WDET 101.9 FM. The station also noted that Inkster voters had approved charter updates following Nolen's initial 2015 election, shifting the city away from a pure council-manager model and granting the mayor's office greater executive power — a change Nolen said was necessary because the prior charter gave the mayor minimal authority.
A Congressional Bid Just Weeks Before the Lawsuit
In 2026, he was one of three Democratic primary candidates for Michigan's 12th Congressional District, alongside incumbent U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Shanelle Jackson, per WDET 101.9 FM.
Inkster's civic struggles extend beyond its city hall corruption cases.
Inkster is a Wayne County suburb. The new extortion allegations against Nolen are part of a civil lawsuit, which outlines claims against him.
