Ex-Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick gets 28 years in prison

[jobeterob]

Ex-Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick gets 28 years in prison


By Ross Levitt, CNN

updated 2:06 PM EDT, Thu October 10, 2013




STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Judge: Long prison sentence necessary "to insulate the public from his behavior"
Kilpatrick was found guilty of using bid rigging, extortion and nonprofit funds to enrich himself
Kilpatrick was Detroit mayor from 2002 until he resigned in 2008
He apologized in court Thursday




[[CNN) -- Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on Thursday was sentenced to 28 years in prison after he was convicted in March of two dozen federal charges.

The charges include racketeering, extortion and the filing of false tax returns. He was accused of using the mayor's office to enrich himself and associates.

Before he was sentenced, Kilpatrick apologized in court Thursday morning.

"I say with every morsel of my being that I'm sorry to you," he said.

Judge Nancy G. Edmunds noted the apology and said that he was showing "more awareness than I have seen along the way."

But she said "a long prison sentence is necessary to insulate the public from his behavior."

"That way of business is over. We're done. We're moving forward," she said.

Ex-Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick convicted in corruption case

Kilpatrick, Detroit's mayor from 2002 until he resigned in 2008, was the biggest target of a years-long Detroit City Hall corruption investigation that led to the convictions of two dozen people, including several of his closest friends and former City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, the wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Kilpatrick ran a criminal enterprise through the mayor's office to enrich himself through bid rigging and extortion, and using nonprofit funds for personal gain.

At the heart of the scheme was corruption in municipal contracting, mostly centering on the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, said Barbara McQuade, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Edmunds said that in the sentencing, she was not holding Kilpatrick responsible for the city's bankruptcy of this year, saying that was due to wider factors. But then she cited a litany of effects of his crimes, including loss of public trust and honest contractors being turned away.

[Roberta75]

Ex-Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick gets 28 years in prison


By Ross Levitt, CNN

updated 2:06 PM EDT, Thu October 10, 2013




STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Judge: Long prison sentence necessary "to insulate the public from his behavior"
Kilpatrick was found guilty of using bid rigging, extortion and nonprofit funds to enrich himself
Kilpatrick was Detroit mayor from 2002 until he resigned in 2008
He apologized in court Thursday




[[CNN) -- Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on Thursday was sentenced to 28 years in prison after he was convicted in March of two dozen federal charges.

The charges include racketeering, extortion and the filing of false tax returns. He was accused of using the mayor's office to enrich himself and associates.

Before he was sentenced, Kilpatrick apologized in court Thursday morning.

"I say with every morsel of my being that I'm sorry to you," he said.

Judge Nancy G. Edmunds noted the apology and said that he was showing "more awareness than I have seen along the way."

But she said "a long prison sentence is necessary to insulate the public from his behavior."

"That way of business is over. We're done. We're moving forward," she said.

Ex-Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick convicted in corruption case

Kilpatrick, Detroit's mayor from 2002 until he resigned in 2008, was the biggest target of a years-long Detroit City Hall corruption investigation that led to the convictions of two dozen people, including several of his closest friends and former City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, the wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Kilpatrick ran a criminal enterprise through the mayor's office to enrich himself through bid rigging and extortion, and using nonprofit funds for personal gain.

At the heart of the scheme was corruption in municipal contracting, mostly centering on the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, said Barbara McQuade, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Edmunds said that in the sentencing, she was not holding Kilpatrick responsible for the city's bankruptcy of this year, saying that was due to wider factors. But then she cited a litany of effects of his crimes, including loss of public trust and honest contractors being turned away.

Im sorry but I think 28 years is too long imo. i mean he didnt murder anyone.

Roberta

[skooldem1]

"Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on Thursday was sentenced to 28 years in prison after he was convicted in March of two dozen federal charges".

He was found guilty of TWO DOZEN federal charges. In that context, 28 years seems reasonable.

[theboyfromxtown]

Will he serve the full sentence or is he able to mitigate that for good behaviour?

[marv2]

Im sorry but I think 28 years is too long imo. i mean he didnt murder anyone.

Roberta

Well there was this stripper at one of his parties...........but that is a whole other story.

[marv2]

Will he serve the full sentence or is he able to mitigate that for good behaviour?

His ass is gone! He is not getting out until he is in his 70s! They do not play in Michigan!

[midnightman]

Good riddance. He surely didn't do Detroit any good anyway.

[Roberta75]

Well there was this stripper at one of his parties...........but that is a whole other story.

Did you wear tassles and a gstring. I hope he tipped you real well.

[jobeterob]

I don't know anything about the man.

Just like Conrad Murray, he can get some time off for good behaviour but he's in for 20 years ++++.

Hey, Marv didn't say the stripper was Diane. Things are looking up.

[smark21]

Very corrupt man and administration who did a lot of damage to a great city. 28 years seems right to me.

[jillfoster]

Did you wear tassles and a gstring. I hope he tipped you real well.

Ben Franklins, Jonc, Ben Franklins.

[thomas96]

He deserves every minute of it. No sympathy here.

[Roberta75]

Ben Franklins, Jonc, Ben Franklins.

Why did you delete your post saying that Mayor Kilpatrick shouldnt have got any jail time jillfoster?

[jillfoster]

Why did you delete your post saying that Mayor Kilpatrick shouldnt have got any jail time jillfoster?

Because I found out one of the charges was assaulting an officer, and that changed my mind. I don't feel any person should go to jail for white collar crimes, drug posession, etc.I think prison should be reserved ONLY for people who are a PHYSICAL DANGER to others. I had read up on his charges, and found that one did involve violence, so that changed my mind. If his crimes has only been stealing, fraud, whatever... then I think a proper sentence would have been forfeiture of a percentage of his assets, to be determined by a judge. We spend too much tax money housing people in prisons that won't physically harm people, and we let out rapists and murderers early to make room for them! Petty criminals and white collar crime could be a cash cow for the state, instead of a financial burden. Martha Stewart, for example. Instead of housing her in prison for 6 months on the taxpayer's dime, she should have been sentenced to a forfeiture of 80% of her total assets. It would been a fitting punishment, since her crime was one of greed, and a payoff for the state of tens of millions of dollars.

[Roberta75]

Because I found out one of the charges was assaulting an officer, and that changed my mind. I don't feel any person should go to jail for white collar crimes, drug posession, etc.I think prison should be reserved ONLY for people who are a PHYSICAL DANGER to others. I had read up on his charges, and found that one did involve violence, so that changed my mind. If his crimes has only been stealing, fraud, whatever... then I think a proper sentence would have been forfeiture of a percentage of his assets, to be determined by a judge. We spend too much tax money housing people in prisons that won't physically harm people, and we let out rapists and murderers early to make room for them! Petty criminals and white collar crime could be a cash cow for the state, instead of a financial burden. Martha Stewart, for example. Instead of housing her in prison for 6 months on the taxpayer's dime, she should have been sentenced to a forfeiture of 80% of her total assets. It would been a fitting punishment, since her crime was one of greed, and a payoff for the state of tens of millions of dollars.

Fair enough.

[jobeterob]

What do you do when you get a Bernie Madoff and there is no money left? He needs to get some jail for what he's done to thousands of people's lives? Or no?

This is why there always has to be some discretion in the Judge. But that is something conservative groups dislike.

[jillfoster]

What do you do when you get a Bernie Madoff and there is no money left? He needs to get some jail for what he's done to thousands of people's lives? Or no?

This is why there always has to be some discretion in the Judge. But that is something conservative groups dislike.

I'm not sure Bernie Madoff has NO money... they always have something.... but they would be required to perform work for the state without pay, and they would also have a state garnishment [[a percentage) of any income they get for the rest of their lives.

[jobeterob]

Those ideas, like Jill's, are never bad ones.

The worst thing is to throw these people, especially young people, in jail and mix them with the hardened criminals and ensure they come out much worse people than when they went in.

It was a lesson to Conrad Black, one which he deserved.

[splanky]

jillfoster said:

I don't feel any person should go to jail for white collar crimes, drug posession, etc.I think prison should be reserved ONLY for people who are a PHYSICAL DANGER to others.

Funny, but I feel people who commit a lot of so-called white collar crimes should do
much more time than most courts in this country give them. When you physically attack
a person you directly effect basically that one individual but corrupt politicians, administrators, landlords, etc , effect the lives of dozens, even hundreds and thousands
of people every day, sometimes for decades. So long, Kwame...don't worry about staying in touch. You've touched too much...

[jillfoster]

jillfoster said:

I don't feel any person should go to jail for white collar crimes, drug posession, etc.I think prison should be reserved ONLY for people who are a PHYSICAL DANGER to others.

Funny, but I feel people who commit a lot of so-called white collar crimes should do
much more time than most courts in this country give them. When you physically attack
a person you directly effect basically that one individual but corrupt politicians, administrators, landlords, etc , effect the lives of dozens, even hundreds and thousands
of people every day, sometimes for decades. So long, Kwame...don't worry about staying in touch. You've touched too much...

Yes, and then EVERYONE in the country is affected, because we all have to pay taxes to house and feed these people. We need to find a way for THEM to pay the PUBLIC money instead of the other way around. Like I said, Martha Stewart was worth around 300 million dollars when she went to jail for 5 months. She was fined 30,000$. Big whoop. She should have NEVER went to prison, and been fined 295 million dollars.

[robb_k]

I don't mind someone like this [[and other "white collar criminals") getting long prison terms. They tole money from innocent, hard-working people. Maybe some of the money they greedily took from the public could have allowed more police to be stationed on beats and a few murders or robbery/assault cases not to have occured. If one more person would be alive now, the fleecing of the public is tantamount to "murder". If several older people die too soon for lack of medical care or money for food or shelter because their life savings disappeared due to Bernie Madoff and his ilk, they deserve long prison sentences. I lost $50,000 investing in World Com because of selfish people not caring if people like me have enough money to live on in their old age. I will have to work until I die 9I would have in any case), but it will be a lot more difficult for me than if I still had had that money in 2001, and had been able to earn compounded interest on it or capital gains from 2001 to 2030.

Madoff and others have ruined the later lives of millions of honest, hard working, decent people. It is wrong, and a message should be sent that such action won't be tolerated, and the retrobution will be severe. They don't care if they destroy lives, let their life be very unpleasant.

[144man]

I look at it in a slightly different way. Any money I have, I've had to work for. If someone steals a thousand pounds from me, which took me a month to earn, that's a month of my life that's been stolen as well.

[jillfoster]

I don't mind someone like this [[and other "white collar criminals") getting long prison terms. They tole money from innocent, hard-working people. Maybe some of the money they greedily took from the public could have allowed more police to be stationed on beats and a few murders or robbery/assault cases not to have occured. If one more person would be alive now, the fleecing of the public is tantamount to "murder". If several older people die too soon for lack of medical care or money for food or shelter because their life savings disappeared due to Bernie Madoff and his ilk, they deserve long prison sentences. I lost $50,000 investing in World Com because of selfish people not caring if people like me have enough money to live on in their old age. I will have to work until I die 9I would have in any case), but it will be a lot more difficult for me than if I still had had that money in 2001, and had been able to earn compounded interest on it or capital gains from 2001 to 2030.

Madoff and others have ruined the later lives of millions of honest, hard working, decent people. It is wrong, and a message should be sent that such action won't be tolerated, and the retrobution will be severe. They don't care if they destroy lives, let their life be very unpleasant.

That's exactly why I'd never touch the stock market. It's just filled with a bunch of panic stricken freaks running around like children with scissors. I'll take a Certificate of deposit any day. You may not make squat on it right now, but you'll never lose your principal, either.

[robb_k]

That's exactly why I'd never touch the stock market. It's just filled with a bunch of panic stricken freaks running around like children with scissors. I'll take a Certificate of deposit any day. You may not make squat on it right now, but you'll never lose your principal, either.

I made a mistake buying individual stocks, but I'm still ahead from buying stock, overall over a 50 year period.

[jillfoster]

I made a mistake buying individual stocks, but I'm still ahead from buying stock, overall over a 50 year period.

That's good, but I wouldn't be prepared to take that chance. My grandparents had all their money in CD's in the late 70's and early 80's when we had double digit interest rates, and they cleaned up.

[nativeNY63]

He's apparently set for an early release, after 7 years. Reports say due to Covid-19 spread in the prison.

[nativeNY63]

I meant possible spread of the virus. The article also said Kwame enriched his dad in the millions bilked from city contracts. Its a Family Affair. One child, grows up to be.....!