Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is serving a 28 year federal prison sentence, but that hasn’t stopped prosecutors from demanding he pay $4.5 million dollars for corruption during his tenure.
Kilpatrick, who began serving his 28 year sentence in October for rigging contracts and taking bribes, will be forced to pay millions if federal prosecutors have their way.
On Thursday prosecutors filed a recommendation in federal court for a $4.5 million dollar payment from Kilpatrick. U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds will decide next month if Kilpatrick will be required to make payment and for how much.
Edmunds has already issued an order for Kilpatrick’s business associate Bobby Ferguson, to whom Kilpatrick funneled sweetheart deals, to pay $6 million dollars. Ferguson was sentenced to 21 years in prison.
It is unclear how Kilpatrick would pay $4.5 million dollars in federal prison, so even if the court orders repayment, it may never see another dime from Kilpatrick.
Edmunds will issue her final ruling on December 10. She is the same judge who sentenced Kilpatrick to 28 years after his counsel begged for a 15 year sentence for the “disgraced and destitute” ex mayor.
“The government has asked for a sentence of 28 years — I believe that is in fact what his sentence should be,” Edmunds said of her decision.
Judge Edmunds also strongly admonished Kilpatrick while rendering her ruling.
“He chose to waste his talents on personal aggrandizement and enrichment,” she said.
Kilpatrick has already paid $845, 062 in restitution.
Source: YourBlackWorld
