By Corey Williams and Ed White
Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday cleared the way for the release of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who has served more than seven years of a 28-year prison sentence for a series of corruption crimes.
The announcement came in a flurry of clemency action in the final hours of Trump’s White House term that benefited more than 140 people, including rappers, former members of Congress and other Trump allies.
The White House said prominent members of the Detroit community had supported the 50-year-old Democrat’s commutation and noted: “During his incarceration, Mr. Kilpatrick has taught public speaking classes and has led Bible Study groups with his fellow inmates.”
Kilpatrick’s sentence was reduced but his 24 felony convictions still stand. It was not immediately clear when he would be released from federal custody in Louisiana. The Associated Press sent an email to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons seeking clarification.
The Rev. Keyon Payton said Kilpatrick likely would go to Atlanta to reunite with his mother, sister and other family members.
“Everyone deserves a second chance,” said Payton, who leads New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Pontiac, adding: “Twenty-eight years was far too long.”
In 2013, Kilpatrick was convicted of racketeering conspiracy, fraud, extortion and tax crimes. The government called it the “Kilpatrick enterprise,” a scheme to shake down contractors and reward allies.
While Detroit’s finances were eroding, he was getting bags of cash from city contractors, kickbacks hidden in the bra of his political fundraiser and private cross-country travel from businessmen, according to trial evidence. Kilpatrick said he was sorry if he let his hometown down but denied ever stealing from the citizens of Detroit.
Kilpatrick’s lawyers had asked for a 15-year sentence, but U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds agreed with prosecutors and ordered an extraordinary 28-year term.
Detroit U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider, a Trump appointee, blasted the decision to release the former mayor, who quit office in 2008.
“He is a notorious and unrepentant criminal,” Schneider said of Kilpatrick.
With credit for good behavior, Kilpatrick had been listed for release from prison in 2037. His request for home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic was turned down in May.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a Democrat and frequent Trump critic, welcomed the news of a commutation.
“Kwame Kilpatrick is a person of great talent who still has much to contribute,” Duggan said. “I know how close he is to his three sons and I could not be happier for them being together again. This is a decision President Trump got right.”
Kilpatrick’s first term as mayor was marred by accusations of misuse of city funds on personal extravagance. Nonetheless, he was reelected in 2005 and Detroit’s financial footing continued to erode during his second term.
Often wearing diamond earring studs and a wide-brimmed fedora, Kilpatrick reveled in the title of the city’s “Hip-Hop Mayor.” The image later dogged the married mayor when he found himself in a text-messaging sex scandal with his chief of staff.
Those messages led to a criminal investigation in 2007 and state charges accusing Kilpatrick of perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office. He resigned as mayor in 2008 before serving more than a year in jail and state prison.
Adolph Mongo, a strategist who worked on Kilpatrick’s 2005 reelection campaign, said he had hoped for his release.
“Trump is out of his mind, but he’s probably the only one who would do it,” Mongo said. “I wouldn’t expect Biden to do it. I didn’t think Hillary Clinton would do it.”
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