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Ex-Detroit Mayor Convicted Of Corruption

Agnus Dei Farrant |
March 11, 2013 | 3:02 p.m. PDT

Executive Producer

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's headshot, Wayne County Jail (Associated Press).
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's headshot, Wayne County Jail (Associated Press).
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was convicted Monday on two dozen federal charges of corruption and bribery during his tenure from 2001 until he resigned in 2008, Reuters reported. 

From Reuters: 

Prosecutors accused Kilpatrick, 42, his father and a city contractor of widespread corruption, extorting bribes from contractors who wanted to be awarded or keep city contracts, turning the mayor's office into "Kilpatrick Incorporated."

"While he enjoyed a lavish lifestyle, he watched the quality of life erode for the people of Detroit," Barbara McQuade, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, told CNN. "The mayor was not focused on running the city. He was focused on using the mayor's office as a money-making machine."

Jurors found Kilpatrick guilty of racketeering, extortion, bribery, mail and wire fraud, and tax charges, Reuters reported. 

Contractor Bobby Ferguson was found guilty Monday of racketeering and extortion. Kilpatrick’s father, Bernard Kilpatrick, was found guilty of a single tax count, CNN reported.

“We came here into this courtroom with a lot of baggage,” said Kilpatrick's lawyer, James Thomas.

Thomas told The New York Times that his client was unfairly "demonized by the media." 

Defense attorneys said the prosecution’s case was built on circumstantial evidence and lying witnesses.

Prosecutors accused the former mayor of steering more than $83 million worth of municipal contracts to his friend, Ferguson, who shared some of the money with him.

Prosecutors also said Kilpatrick spent donations intended for his charity, the Kilpatrick Civic Fund, on golf equipment, summer camp for his children, yoga lessons for himself and other personal expenses, The New York Times reported.

Kilpatrick was scheduled to be in court Tuesday for a judge to determine why profits from his autobiography hadn’t been put toward his $1 million in restitution to the city, Detroit Free Press reported. 

From CNN: 

In September 2008, the ex-mayor pleaded guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice stemming from his efforts to cover up an extramarital affair.

He also pleaded no contest to charges of assaulting a police officer who was attempting to serve a subpoena on a Kilpatrick friend in that case.

Kilpatrick could face up to 20 years in prison.

 

Reach Executive Producer Agnus Dei Farrant here.



 

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