Kwame Kilpatrick

Bobby Fergusson denied bond, judge cites flight risk

The Associated Press — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:10:27 +0000

Today U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds denied Bobby Ferguson's request that he be released on bond while he awaits sentencing.

Ferguson was convicted alongside former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on multiple felony counts including racketeering.

Edmunds said he might be a flight risk.

Kwame Kilpatrick aka inmate # 44678-039

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:43:29 +0000

Kwame Kilpatrick may have been known as "Boss" or "Black" to some, but in his new home, he’s inmate number 44678-039.

That’s according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate search. His new address (at least until he’s sentenced) is the Milan Federal Correctional Institution.

What's going on this week? Kilpatrick guilty, Detroit argues against EM, right to work deadline

Jack Lessenberry, Christina Shockley and Emily Fox — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:38:23 +0000

This week in Michigan politics, Jack Lessenberry and Christina Shockley discuss the trial of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, the debate between the Detroit City Council and Governor Snyder over an impending emergency manager appointment in Detroit, and how unions are trying to get new contracts in place before the new right to work law takes affect later this month.

To hear their discussion, click on the audio above.

Commentary: Goodbye Kwame Kilpatrick

Jack Lessenberry — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:49:40 +0000

The newspapers are full of stories about Kwame Kilpatrick’s conviction today. That makes sense. This is a major story. Never has a former Detroit mayor been convicted of so many felonies on so many charges, though he is not the first or even the second to end up in jail.

But what doesn’t make sense is the media’s continuing obsession with him. When Kilpatrick resigned his office in disgrace, George Bush was still president, Jennifer Granholm was still governor, and the auto bailout hadn’t yet happened. That was nearly five years ago.

More than three years ago, Mayor Dave Bing told me that he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach every time Kilpatrick was back in the newspapers. Every reminder of Kwame’s existence made his job that much harder. Yet every time Kwame moved, it seemed to be front-page news. His seemingly interminable trial went on for months.

In this morning's news: Kilpatrick guilty, the fate of an emergency financial manager for Detroit

Emily Fox — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 11:42:32 +0000

Kilpatrick found guilty on public corruption case

"Former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his longtime friend Bobby Ferguson are in prison. The two men were taken into custody after a federal jury found them guilty on multiple charges in a major federal corruption trial," Sarah Cwiek reports.

Lawyer who represented Chrysler in bankruptcy might be Detroit's EFM

Kevin Orr, a Washington D.C. lawyer who represented Chrysler in it's 2009 bankruptcy might be Governor Rick Snyder's choice to be Detroit's emergency financial manager. That's if Snyder moves forward with an emergency financial manager for the city. As the Detroit News reports,

"A high-level source with knowledge of the decision confirmed late yesterday that Orr is the choice. He's the only name to emerge who hasn't denied interest since Snyder declared the city in a financial emergency March 1."

Detroit City Council to argue against an EFM in a hearing today

"Michigan officials are set to hear an appeal from Detroit council members who dispute the state's declaration that the city has no plan to fix its fiscal crisis. Chief Deputy Treasurer Mary MacDowell will attend today's hearing in Lansing and report back to Governor Rick Snyder. Detroit has a budget deficit of $327 million," the Associated Press reports.

An historic week in Detroit (not in a good way)

Sarah Cwiek — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 03:47:50 +0000

In a weird twist of fate, two remarkable events in Detroit’s recent history are happening at virtually the same time.

Former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was convicted of multiple federal corruption charges Monday. And Governor Snyder is expected to appoint an emergency financial manager within days.

The timing is a coincidence, but there’s some connection between the two events—and a lot of symbolism.

Federal prison isn't former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's only concern

Steve Carmody — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:54:01 +0000

Kwame Kilpatrick’s federal racketeering and extortion convictions may mean the former Detroit mayor will not be able to pay the city approximately $850,000 in restitution in another case.

Monday, Kwame Kilpatrick was convicted on more than 20 counts of racketeering. extortion and other charges. The former mayor faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

In 2008, Kilpatrick agreed to pay a million dollars in restitution as part of a guilty plea to state obstruction of justice charges. He also served time in prison.

Thoughts on today's Kwame Kilpatrick ruling

Stateside Staff — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:51:41 +0000

It lasted about six months, and today, a federal jury found former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick guilty of 24 counts of racketeering, bribery, and extortion.

You might remember Kilpatrick previously spent a year in prison for lying under oath about a sexting-affair he had with his Chief of Staff and for violating his probation.

So, here we are today.

It’s not going to be just a few weeks or few months, the former Mayor is going to be facing some serious prison-time.

We spoke with Michigan Radio's Sarah Cwiek who's been covering the case for Michigan Radio, and with Larry Dubin of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

Listen to their thoughts on the verdict above.

Stateside for Monday, March 11th, 2013

Stateside Staff — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:06:40 +0000

On today's show, balancing the state's budget - there's a fight in Lansing over whether or not the state should add money to it's so-called "rainy-day fund." Just how much money should be in the state's savings account? And, two cases involving same sex marriage will soon be in front of the Supreme Court. We find out what that could mean for gays and lesbians here in Michigan.

But first, It lasted about six months and today, a federal jury found former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick guilty of 24 counts of racketeering, bribery, and extortion.

Now, you might remember Kilpatrick previously spent a year in prison for lying under oath about a sexting-affair he had with his Chief of Staff and for violating his probation.

So, here we are today. It’s not going to be just a few weeks or few months, the Mayor is going to be facing some serious prison-time.

We spoke with Michigan Radio's Sarah Cwiek. She’s been covering the case for Michigan Radio.

Kwame Kilpatrick found guilty in public corruption case

Mark Brush — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:01:13 +0000

In a big court victory for federal prosecutors, former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been found guilty of conspiracy racketeering, extortion, mail fraud, and tax charges.

His longtime contractor friend, Bobby Ferguson, was also found guilty on multiple extortion and racketeering charges.

Kwame Kilpatrick's father, Bernard, was found guilty of one tax charge.

Update 3:01 p.m.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds ordered ex-Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick and his longtime contractor friend, Bobby Ferguson, to be held in prison until their sentencing in the corruption case.

More from the Associated Press:

... he was handcuffed and led to jail after prosecutors asked the judge to revoke his bond. Edmunds said it was a "close call" but agreed that the scale under federal law tipped in favor of the government.

The Detroit Free Press reports on the argument federal prosecutors made that Kilpatrick should be detained:

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bullotta argued that Kilpatrick should be detained because he has a history of disobeying orders. He also said Kilpatrick has access to money, as does Ferguson. Bullotta said Kilpatrick lied after his convictions on obstruction of justice charges in the text message scandal that drove him out of office.
“It’s a different ball game now,” he said.

As he was lead away, Kilpatrick spoke to his family:

'Stay strong,' #Kwame Kilpatrick tells sobbing family members as he's handcuffed, led away on.freep.com/16mIadD
— Detroit Free Press (@freep) March 11, 2013

Update 12:23 p.m.

Some jurors in the Kwame Kilpatrick corruption trial are answering questions from the media right now.

Jim Shaefer of the Detroit Free Press is live-blogging at the courthouse.

When asked if they felt anger toward Kilpatrick for using the mayor's office for personal gain, they said anger doesn't quite capture it - disappointment does:

Juror No. 6: "We had no anger...this was very serious. we had a large responsibility. I think we felt we did that responsibility...we had no anger or any other emotion other than we felt the (impact) this decision would have on the defendants."
Juror No. 11: "I wouldn't call it anger. I would call it more so disappointment, with me voting for the mayor twice. ...I saw a lot that really, really turned my stomach, and I couldn't believe this kind of thing was going on... but there was never any anger. Disappointment is all I feel."

When asked if they felt sorry for the defendants...

Juror No. 11: "I feel bad for the families. There's always a bit of sadness for the children and the families...I don't feel bad for the defendants, because I think you go into things knowing what you're doing."

The Detroit News just pushed this picture of Kilpatrick leaving the courthouse earlier this morning out on Twitter:

Kilpatrick leaving court after jurors convicted and Ferguson of federal racketeering and other charges twitpic.com/caj27k
— The Detroit News (@detroitnews) March 11, 2013

12:00 p.m.

Jurors are taking questions from the media now. Michigan Radio's Sarah Cwiek is in the courtroom and will have updates for us later today.

The jurors who chose to speak to the media are saying they took each of the 45 counts seriously, and carefully weighed the evidence for each count.

They say they also took the judge's orders to not follow media accounts of the trial very seriously.

Jim Schaefer of the Freep blogs:

Juror No. 7 says she was a social media junkie, but gave it up for the trial.

When asked which charge was the toughest to decide:

Juror No. 12: "We are a nice group of people..at times, arguments got a little heated" but identifying one charge as difficult is tough. All of them were tough. We took good notes, looked through them, worked with good diligence.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing released the following statement regarding the verdict.

“I am pleased that this long trial has ended and we can finally put this negative chapter in Detroit’s history behind us. It is time for all of us to move forward with a renewed commitment to transparency and high ethical standards in our City government.”

11:28 a.m.

There were 45 charges in all against the three men (30 against Kwame Kilpatrick, 11 against Bobby Ferguson, and four against Bernard Kilpatrick).

Jim Schaefer of the Detroit Free Press reports Kilpatrick was found guilty of 24 of the 30 charges against him.

Bobby Ferguson was found guilty of nine of the 11 charges against him.

And Kwame Kilpatrick's father, Bernard Kilpatrick, was found guilty on one tax charge.

At 1:30 today, the judge will decide whether the men will be allowed to be free on bond until the sentencing hearing.

11:05 a.m.

Kwame Kilpatrick, Bernard Kilpatrick and Bobby Ferguson have left the courtroom. The following tweets describe the scene:

Kwame, asked if he has anything to say on verdict leaving courthouse: "Not at this time."
— The Detroit News (@detroitnews) March 11, 2013

Kwame no comment. Bernard tells reporters that he feels terrible
— Jeff Seidel (@seideljeff) March 11, 2013

Kwame #Kilpatrick is outside the courthouse; won't make a comment, walks through press corp surrounding him
— Detroit Free Press (@freep) March 11, 2013

#Kwame Kilpatrick looked stunned, no emotion as he left federal courttwitpic.com/caig43
— Local 4 WDIV Detroit (@Local4News) March 11, 2013

Kilpatrick tells media that he as no comment. As Kilpatrick moves through a crowd of reporters Charlie LeDuff asks: "Are you sorry?"
— FreepOpinion (@FreepOpinion) March 11, 2013

Kilpatrick leaves courthouse in white car. At 1:30 p.m. he'll learn if he'll be immediately locked away or free pending future sentencing.
— The Detroit News (@detroitnews) March 11, 2013

10:56 a.m.

The Detroit Free Press' Jim Schaefer has been live-blogging the verdicts this morning.

Here's how he described the reactions from Kwame Kilpatrick (KK) and Bobby Ferguson (BF):

KK was shaking his head through some of the guilty verdicts. Now the defendants are all staring at the jury, but everyone is composed.
Jury has left the room. Defendants have sat down. Judge wants to discuss detention.
Judge says that will require a hearing. She will take that up at 1:30. In the meantime, the defendants will remain free on bond.
KK has his chin resting on his right hand as he sits in his chair.
A staggering defeat, obviously, for the former mayor.
BF is slumped a bit in his chair. BK is seated on the edge of his chair.
KK now has his hands clasped in front of him, chin resting on them.

10:51 a.m.

The jury has finished reading their verdicts. There were 45 charges in all against the three men. The jury was unanimous in 40 of them.

The federal government has won its RICO case against Kwame Kilpatrick and his longtime contractor friend Bobby Ferguson.

Kwame's father, Bernard Kilpatrick, was found not guilty in the racketeering charges, but he was found guilty of one tax charge.

Kilpatrick and his longtime contractor friend Bobby Ferguson have been found guilty on multiple racketeering, extortion, wire and mail fraud charges. Kilpatrick has also been found guilty of mail and wire fraud.

10:40 a.m.

The verdicts are coming in now, Kwame Kilpatrick has been found guilty on the racketeering and extortion charges, more charges are coming in.

10:35 a.m.

Photo of the media waiting for the verdict from the Detroit Free Press' Nathan Bomey.

Another two dozen media at the back of the courthouse. twitter.com/NathanBomey/st…
— Nathan Bomey (@NathanBomey) March 11, 2013

10:29 a.m.

We are preparing to hear the verdicts in the Kwame Kilpatrick public corruption case.

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, his father Bernard Kilpatrick, and longtime friend and contractor Bobby Ferguson all face dozens of charges, the most serious of which is conspiracy racketeering under the federal RICO Act (the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act).

The Detroit Free Press reports the racketeering charges carry "a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison."

We will update this post as we hear the verdicts.

Verdict in ex-Detroit mayor corruption trial

The Associated Press — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:38:29 +0000

DETROIT (AP) - A court spokesman says jurors have reached a verdict in the corruption trial of ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Rod Hansen says in an email that lawyers for Kilpatrick, his father Bernard and city contractor Bobby Ferguson have been summoned Monday morning to Detroit federal court after 14 days of deliberations.

Kilpatrick is charged with turning the mayor's office into a cash machine by collecting kickbacks and bribes from people who wanted city business. He's also charged with looting a nonprofit fund that he created to help distressed Detroiters.

Kilpatrick trial wrapping up this week

Mark Brush — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:33:07 +0000

I wonder if there will be any Kwame Kilpatrick stories in 2014.

For those keeping an eye on this story... the trial is wrapping up this week.

DETROIT (AP) - Kwame Kilpatrick's wife and children have joined him for closing arguments in the former Detroit mayor's corruption trial.
On his Facebook page, Kilpatrick says he's "blessed" to have his "squad" in the courtroom. He says Tuesday is a "victory day."
Kilpatrick's attorney, James Thomas, is speaking to jurors. Kilpatrick, his father Bernard and city contractor Bobby Ferguson are charged with conspiring to rake in cash through rigged contracts, bribes and other criminal acts.
Prosecutors gave their closing argument Monday, describing Detroit city hall as a "private profit machine" with Kwame Kilpatrick at the wheel.
The jury will also hear from Bernard Kilpatrick's attorney Tuesday. The last arguments from Ferguson's lawyer will be heard Thursday.

This mornings news: Detroit crime, Kilpatrick trial and gun buybacks

Emily Fox — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:12:42 +0000

Arrests down as violent crimes rise in Detroit

Even though violent crime is up in Detroit, less people are getting arrested, the Detroit News reports.

"The fourth quarter of 2012 saw significantly fewer arrests in most precincts and districts compared with previous years — and the largest declines were in some of the city's most crime-ridden areas. . . Some inside the Detroit Police Department blame low officer morale."

Kilpatrick trial to wrap up today

"Courtroom proceedings in ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s federal corruption case should wrap up today. Prosecutors spent months making a painstaking case against Kwame Kilpatrick, his father Bernard, and longtime friend and city contractor Bobby Ferguson. The government says the men ran Detroit city government like a criminal enterprise for years. They all face a number of federal charges, including conspiracy and extortion," Sarah Cwiek reports.

Lansing police gun buyback collects 122 firearms

"Lansing police say their latest gun buyback program has brought in 122 firearms. The Lansing State Journal reports that people turned in 73 handguns, 47 long guns and two assault or military style guns," The Associated Press Reports.

Judge refuses to dismiss, Kilpatrick trial headed for closing arguments Monday

The Associated Press — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 19:24:06 +0000

DETROIT (AP) - A judge has refused to dismiss corruption charges against former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, clearing a path for the trial's closing arguments Monday.

A request for acquittal before jury deliberations is a standard move in a criminal case but rarely granted. Federal Judge Nancy Edmunds kept the government's case intact Friday, although prosecutors on their own trimmed some of the many charges.

The week in Michigan politics

Jack Lessenberry, Rina Miller and Emily Fox — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:54:54 +0000

In this week in Michigan politics, Rina Miller and Jack Lessenberry discuss Governor Rick Snyder’s upcoming budget address, the final days of the Kwame Kilpatrick trial, and how 200 administrators in Grand Rapids Public Schools got pink slipped.