Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for corruption that turned city hall into a pay-to-play parlor.
Kilpatrick was convicted earlier this year of two dozen crimes, including racketeering conspiracy, bribery and extortion. There was evidence of shakedowns, kickbacks and strong-arm tactics to reaped tens of thousands of dollars and other benefits from people who wanted city business.
The sentence was a victory for prosecutors, who had recommended Kilpatrick serve at least 28 years in prison, while defense attorneys argued for no more than 15 years. Kilpatrick quit office in 2008 after a different scandal involving sexually explicit text messages and an extramarital affair. The 43-year-old Democrat served as mayor for nearly seven years.While the city’s finances foundered, Kilpatrick was shaking down contractors, ensuring that a pal got millions in city work and turning a nonprofit fund to help struggling Detroiters into a personal slush fund, according to evidence at his five-month trial. “He created a ‘pay-to-play’ system for the provision of city goods and services, which compromised vast swaths of city government, including the water and sewer system, the convention center, the pension system, casino developments and recreation centers,” prosecutors said in a court filing last week. “City government essentially became up for grabs for the right price.”
He was forced out while the auto industry was nearing collapse and Detroit’s unstable finances were deteriorating even more. The city now is run by a state-appointed emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, who took Detroit into Chapter 9 bankruptcy last summer as a last-ditch effort to fix billions of dollars in debt.
“Kilpatrick is not the main culprit of the city’s historic bankruptcy, which is the result of larger social and economic forces at work for decades. But his corrupt administration exacerbated the crisis,” prosecutors said.
In their sentencing memo, Kilpatrick’s lawyers made a point that’s commonly argued in cases of high-profile criminals: Our client already has suffered deeply.
Kilpatrick is “infamous, destitute and disgraced,” the attorneys said.
Thursday, 10 October 2013
Detroit '' EX MAYOR KWAME KILPATRICK'' Sentenced To 28 Years In Prison
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for corruption that turned city hall into a pay-to-play parlor.
Kilpatrick was convicted earlier this year of two dozen crimes, including racketeering conspiracy, bribery and extortion. There was evidence of shakedowns, kickbacks and strong-arm tactics to reaped tens of thousands of dollars and other benefits from people who wanted city business.
The sentence was a victory for prosecutors, who had recommended Kilpatrick serve at least 28 years in prison, while defense attorneys argued for no more than 15 years. Kilpatrick quit office in 2008 after a different scandal involving sexually explicit text messages and an extramarital affair. The 43-year-old Democrat served as mayor for nearly seven years.While the city’s finances foundered, Kilpatrick was shaking down contractors, ensuring that a pal got millions in city work and turning a nonprofit fund to help struggling Detroiters into a personal slush fund, according to evidence at his five-month trial. “He created a ‘pay-to-play’ system for the provision of city goods and services, which compromised vast swaths of city government, including the water and sewer system, the convention center, the pension system, casino developments and recreation centers,” prosecutors said in a court filing last week. “City government essentially became up for grabs for the right price.”
He was forced out while the auto industry was nearing collapse and Detroit’s unstable finances were deteriorating even more. The city now is run by a state-appointed emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, who took Detroit into Chapter 9 bankruptcy last summer as a last-ditch effort to fix billions of dollars in debt.
“Kilpatrick is not the main culprit of the city’s historic bankruptcy, which is the result of larger social and economic forces at work for decades. But his corrupt administration exacerbated the crisis,” prosecutors said.
In their sentencing memo, Kilpatrick’s lawyers made a point that’s commonly argued in cases of high-profile criminals: Our client already has suffered deeply.
Kilpatrick is “infamous, destitute and disgraced,” the attorneys said.
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