:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/d1vhqlrjc8h82r.cloudfront.net/11-02-2020/t_d779e4b8d0ba4a518ddbfde0ff9e15dd_name_image.jpg "Trump changes the sentence of former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick after 7 years in prison")
DETROIT – Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will be released from prison after serving seven years of 28 years in prison for his role in a major corruption scandal after President Donald Trump reversed his sentence late Tuesday night.
“President Trump has overturned the sentence of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Malik Kilpatrick,” according to the White House. ‘This commutation is strongly supported by leading members of the Detroit community, Alveda King, Alice Johnson, Diamond and Silk, Pastor Paula White, Peter Karmanos, Representative Sherry Gay-Dagnogo of the Michigan House of Representatives, Representative Karen Whitsett of the House of Representatives in Michigan, and more than 30 faith leaders. Mr. Kilpatrick served about 7 years in prison for his role in a hooliganism and bribery scheme while in public office. During his incarceration, Mr. Kilpatrick gave lectures in public speaking and led Bible study groups with his fellow inmates. ”
In October 2020, Kilpatrick’s sister, Ayanna, said she would expect the release, but it never happened. “Due to serious health challenges, we expect Kwame Kilpatrick to receive a grant this week for COVID-19 voluntary release from the FBOP,” Ayanna Kilpatrick tweeted at the time.
As of Sunday evening, the release date of Kilpatrick is still listed on January 18, 2037 in the Prisoners’ Guide of the Prison Bureau. Earlier this year, Kilpatrick’s family believed he would be released due to COVID-19 concerns, but the Federal Bureau of Prisons denied the request.
Kilpatrick, 50, is currently serving a 28-year sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Oakdale, Louisiana.
Kilpatrick was sentenced to 28 years in prison in 2013 after being convicted of racketeering, postal fraud and wire fraud, among others. He has been fighting his sentence ever since. The Sixth Court of Appeal denied his original appeal of his conviction and sentence. He filed another motion to vacate his prison sentence in 2017, and it was denied by a district court judge.
In 2019, he was again denied by the Sixth Court of Appeal. In 2018, Kilpatrick wrote a letter to President Donald Trump asking for his sentence to be overturned.
Read back: 7 years ago: Kwame Kilpatrick convicted on 24 charges of federal crimes
In January 2020, billionaire Peter Karmanos, a longtime friend of Kilpatrick, said he was working to get the former mayor a presidential pardon. Karmanos spoke on Charlie LeDuff’s podcast, indicating that Kilpatrick was the victim of a political conspiracy and that he would use his influence on President Donald Trump to free him from prison.
In February 2020, Detroit State Representative Sherry Gay-Dagnogo attended the national African American History Celebration in the White House after talks with President Trump’s team on the Kilpatrick issue. Gay-Dagnogo brought a letter signed by politicians and ministers about the state in which he should convert the sentence.
In May, despite his family’s conviction that he would be released, Kilpatrick’s request for early release due to COVID-19 was rejected by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Kilpatrick was mayor of Detroit from 2002 to 2008. He resigned in 2008 after the corruption scandal. Before serving as mayor, Kilpatrick served in the Michigan State Representative House.
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