Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick may have had his sentence commuted by then-President Donald Trump, but he still has some loose ends to tie up with the federal government.
Kilpatrick is still on supervised release – a condition he now is asking a judge to end – and he owes $1.5 million in restitution, a debt that he says has been fulfilled.
In a court filing Tuesday, Kilpatrick’s lawyer addressed both issues in asking U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds to terminate the ex-mayor’s term of supervised release and grant him permission to travel. Attorney Brandon Byrd also argued that Kilpatrick’s $1.5 million restitution tab, the residue of crooked contracts he oversaw while mayor, has been satisfied given the liquidation of assets tied to his co-defendant, Bobby Ferguson.
“These liquidated and liquid amounts should be applied as a credit against the amount that Mr. Kilpatrick owes on the $1,520,653.50 money judgment,” Byrd argues, adding Kilpatrick’s restitution “in this case has been satisfied.”
Kilpatrick, who was sentenced to 28 years in prison in 2013 for numerous public corruption crimes, was granted clemency by Trump in 2021 and resentenced to time served and three years of supervised release.
Kilpatrick served nearly eight years of his sentence and has been on supervised release for almost two years, In asking for the supervision to end, he has “done everything in his power to rehabilitate himself.”
“While incarcerated and on supervision, Mr. Kilpatrick demonstrated that he hasmatured and learned from his mistakes,” Byrd writes in the filing. “Mr. Kilpatrick worked hard to become a responsible, law-abiding, and productive citizen.”
According to the filing, Kilpatrick helped many prison inmates while incarcerated, worked in the prison chapel for six years and was the chapel worship leader for about three years, and took part in many prison programs, including “Authentic Manhood, Bible courses.”
“There is no excuse for Mr. Kilpatrick’s past actions,” his lawyer writes. “Today he understands andhas made a conscious decision to prove to this honorable court and all affected by hisactions that he has taken the necessary steps to rehabilitation. “
Since getting freed in 2021, Kilpatrick has remarried, fathered another son, moved to Atlanta, started his own ministry and become an advocate for prisoners.
“He is no longer in need of supervision,” his lawyer writes. “His probation officer can attest that he has had no problems throughout his almost 2-year period.”
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Moreover, his lawyer argues, Kilpatrick “has proven that he is no threat to public safety while on supervised release,” but rather “has been an asset to the community through volunteering his services and working with the community.”
Kilpatrick’s lawyer argues that if the judge denies the request to end supervised release, “it would severely damage” Kilpatrick’s ” ability to provide for his growing family and ministry” – though he did not state how.
As for the extortion, bribery and fraud crimes Kilpatrick was convicted of at trial, his lawyer wrote:
“All agree that this offense was out of character for him and not indicative of the man he is or the manhe will continue to become.”
Kilpatrick’s downfall started in 2008 after the Free Press published text messages that revealed he lied about an affair with his chief of staff and his firing of a deputy police chief during a whistleblower trial. State criminal charges followed, along with his resignation and Kilpatrick pleading guilty to obstruction of justice as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.
Five years after his resignation and jailing, Kilpatrick was indicted federally and went to trial on numerous public corruption charges. The six-month long trial ended with with a jury convicting him on 24 corruption counts, including racketeering, bribery, extortion and fraud. He was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
Kilpatrick’s sentence was among the stiffest in U.S. history for public corruption, and was modeled after another 28-year sentence handed down to a county commissioner in Ohio, Jimmy Dimora, who remains in prison.
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com.
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