A Flint, Michigan, councilman who faces violent charges after the state expunged his criminal past appears to have been living outside the city he represents, potentially adding to his new legal woes.
Public records seem to contradict the residency claims of Flint City Councilman Leon El-Alamin, an ex-drug dealer who benefitted from Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmerâs âclean slateâ program and has mingled with high-profile Democrats, the Daily Caller News Foundation found. Michiganâs Department of State is now investigating El-Alamin over allegations that he has resided in the neighboring area of Mount Morris Township, where he was arrested in July on domestic violence and assault charges, MLive reported.
El-Alamin is accused of beating and choking a woman during a July 10 incident, according to court records and Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton. Police found El-Alaminâs alleged victim with lacerations and bruises on her face and marks on her neck after she said El-Alamin flew into a fit of rage because she was looking at her emails, Leyton said. The alleged victim said in an affidavit that she and El-Alamin were in a romantic relationship and lived together in Mt. Morris Township since June 2023 despite him serving on Flintâs city council, MLive reported.
An attorney for El-Alamin did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the DCNF.
âThese recent allegations are both false and deeply disheartening, but I remain confident in the truth and in the legal process,â El-Alamin said about the criminal case in a July 19 statement on Facebook. His attorney called the residency investigation âanother example of malicious city Politics,â MLive reported.
The ex-felon was appointed to the city council in March 2024 to replace a member who died. He later ran for a four-year term and was elected in November with 52% of the vote, and listed in campaign and city records as a resident of a property in Flintâs first ward since at least 2023.
However, Flintâs database of property tax records does not list El-Alaminâs name on any property in the city, and Michiganâs sex offender registry shows a female convict living at the specific property instead. The Michigan State Police Sex Offender Registry Unit confirmed to the DCNF that the offenderâs address is up-to-date as of July 1. The DCNF could not reach the resident directly.
Flintâs official property portal and property tax database show the sex offenderâs house is owned by the Money, Attitude, Direction and Education (MADE) Institute, a nonprofit El-Alamin founded in part to help ex-inmates like himself find housing. The property tax records list the utility billing customer as Abdullah Building Performance Bloc, El-Alaminâs own propertymanagement company.
Meanwhile, El-Alaminâs name appears in Mt. Morris Townshipâs property tax database for a property on the street where El-Alaminâs alleged victim reportedly claims to have lived with him.
The MADE Institute did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the DCNF. Michiganâs Department of State, Leyton and Flint City Clerk Davina Donahue â who reportedly forwarded the alleged victimâs residency claims to the state â also did not respond to multiple inquiries.
El-Alaminâs past drug and weapon crimes were expunged after Gov. Whitmer passed a law expanding eligibility in 2020, allowing convicts with up to three felonies and most misdemeanors to qualify. El-Alamin went on to advocate against punitive criminal justice approaches such as incarceration and helpedpass a law that prohibits landlords in Flint from factoring someoneâs criminal history into rental screenings.
Before his city council term, the ex-felon served on Flintâs federally funded housing commission and a committee advising the city on how to distribute federal COVID-19 relief funds. He also met Whitmer and Democratic members of Congress and attended an event supporting former Vice President Kamala Harrisâs 2024 presidential bid, according to photos he has posted on Instagram.
A court freed El-Alamin on July 16, ordered him to wear a GPS monitor and required no contact with his alleged assault victim after he paid a $7,500 bond, court records show. El-Alamin is staying at a new Flint address different from the one at the center of the stateâs reported probe, according to a July court order.
The same woman in the criminal case also filed a child support case against El-Alamin in 2014 that was settled that year, court records show.
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