Jury convicts ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick of corruption and sends him to jail!
DETROIT, Michigan (PNN) - March 14, 2013 - Jurors in a city buffeted by financial crisis convicted former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on corruption charges Monday, capping a five-month trial that exposed a brazen pay-to-play culture during his years in office while the distressed city lost jobs and people and veered toward insolvency.
Kilpatrick could face more than 10 years in prison for two dozen convictions, from racketeering to conspiracy to bribery to tax crimes. Once hailed as a hip, young big-city leader, he was portrayed at trial as an unscrupulous politician who took kickbacks, rigged contracts, and lived far beyond his means.
The trial occurred at a time of extraordinary crisis in Detroit. Since 2000, population has fallen 25% to 700,000. Public finances are in the red for billions of dollars, mostly future pension obligations. Half of property owners are overdue with their property taxes.
Meanwhile, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder could appoint an emergency financial manager in a matter of days, making Detroit the largest city in the country to be taken over by state government.
Kilpatrick’s father, Bernard, was also charged as part of the racketeering conspiracy. However, the jury couldn’t reach a consensus and convicted him only of submitting a false tax return. The Kilpatricks hugged twice after the verdict, with the son appearing to console his sobbing 71-year-old father.
Kilpatrick was elected in 2001 at age 31. He resigned in 2008 and pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in a different scandal involving sexually explicit text messages and an affair with his chief of staff.
He spent 14 months in prison for violating probation in that case after a judge said he failed to report assets that could be put toward his $1 million restitution to Detroit.
