Kwame Kilpatrick

Kwame Kilpatrick Gets Slapped With New Extortion Charge

Jillian Rayfield | February 16, 2012, 11:41AM

Beleaguered former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was hit with an additional federal charge this week, as federal prosecutors allege that he and his friend Bobby Ferguson extorted a city towing contractor for around $90,000.

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Kwame Kilpatrick

Kwame Kilpatrick Tell-All Blames 'Enemies' For His 'Political Saga Of Epic Proportions'

Jillian Rayfield | July 7, 2011, 10:48AM

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Beleaguered former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has written a tell-all book, describing how he wound up in jail and blaming many of his troubles on a number of "enemies" who were threatened by his election. "Their bottom lines for me, then, became simple. Get rid of me. And they're not finished," he writes.

"Like any political saga of epic proportions, there are no simple explanations for the direction in which my career went. But there are two sides to the story and probably three. The world has heard the press' side for almost 10 years, and it's caused a tidal wave of sentiment against me," Kilpatrick writes in the memoir, according to excerpts published by the Detroit Free Press.

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Americans For Prosperity

Koch-Backed AFP Admits To Posting Fake Eviction Notices On Detroit Homes 'To Startle People'

Jillian Rayfield | June 8, 2011, 12:35PM

The Koch-backed group Americans For Prosperity admitted to posting fake eviction notices on numerous Detroit homes Monday in order to "startle people" about a bridge project that the group opposes.

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Education

Detroit Sends Layoff Notices To Every Public School Teacher

David Taintor | April 15, 2011, 1:44PM

Michigan Teacher Myrina Hibbler

Every one of Detroit's public school teachers is receiving a layoff notice -- but that doesn't mean they will all be fired.

The layoff notices were sent to the 5,466 unionized teachers "in anticipation of a workforce reduction to match the district's declining student enrollment," according to a Detroit Public Schools statement. The layoff notices are required as part of the Detroit Teachers Federation collective-bargaining agreement. Non-Renewal notices have also been sent to 248 administrators, and the layoffs would go into effect by July 29.

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Detroit

Kwame Kilpatrick Pleads Not Guilty To Federal Corruption Charges

Rachel Slajda | January 11, 2011, 9:50AM

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Ex-mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick yesterday pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges. His father, Bernard Kilpatrick, and three other defendants also pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors allege that Kilpatrick, his father, a mayoral aide, the former head of the water department and a city contractor colluded to extort millions from contractors. Kilpatrick allegedly forced firms looking for city contracts to pay kickbacks, fly Kilpatrick and his friends around the country and/or hire his friend, Bobby Ferguson, as a subcontractor. Ferguson is one of the five defendants.

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Detroit

Indictment: Kilpatrick Demanded Private Flights To Vegas For City Contracts

Rachel Slajda | December 17, 2010, 10:31AM

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

According to the federal racketeering indictment that came down Wednesday, former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick demanded a lot in exchange for a city contract. One of those things was, allegedly, all-expense-paid trips to swanky locales like Las Vegas via the private jets of city contractors.

In one case, according to the indictment, Kilpatrick had a couple of top aides inform the owner of a company that managed millions of Detroit pension funds that Kilpatrick wasn't happy the contractor had supported his opponent in the 2005 election. So the unnamed contractor allegedly flew Kilpatrick and five of the mayor's friends to Vegas for a golf trip in April 2007 -- a golf trip that included hotels, meals, limo service, concert tickets and massages -- to the tune of $16,000.

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Detroit

Kwame Tweet: 'Moral Responsibility May Compel You To Disobey The Law'

Rachel Slajda | December 16, 2010, 3:30PM

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick -- or, more likely, a family member -- is defending the mayor on Twitter after his federal indictment yesterday charging him with racketeering, bribery, extortion and fraud.

"Is disobedience of the government ever justified?" the @KwameAndFamily Twitter account asked yesterday.

A few hours later: "We must obey God rather than men."

This morning: "Moral responsibility may compel you to disobey the law."

TPM confirmed the authenticity of the Twitter account with Mike Paul, Kilpatrick's public relations man.

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Corruption

'Lol!' How Kwame Kilpatrick Allegedly Planned Mass Extortion

Rachel Slajda | December 16, 2010, 1:57PM

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

We just got through the 38-count federal indictment against former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and a handful of his cohorts, alleging that the group operated as a criminal organization that extorted tens of millions of dollars from city contractors. The indictment -- against Kilpatrick, his father, a city contractor named Bobby Ferguson and two former city officials -- is full of bits of conversations between the men, presumably via text message and punctuated with "Lol"s and "COOL!"s.

The indictment alleges extortion, bribery, racketeering, mail fraud and RICO conspiracy, a charge originally reserved for crime syndicates like the mafia. Kilpatrick and other city officials were allegedly in the habit of threatening to take away lucrative city contracts from firms unless they hired Ferguson at inflated rates and, in some cases, for no work at all.

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Kwame Kilpatrick

Feds Indict Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Rachel Slajda | December 15, 2010, 3:52PM

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

According to local news reports, former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been indicted on federal corruption charges.

Kilpatrick was charged along with his father, Bernard Kilpatrick, and several other former city officials: city contractor Bobby Ferguson, former top Kilpatrick aide Derrick Miller and former water department chief Victor Mercado, according to the Free Press.

According to the Detroit News, the men are being charged under Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, a law usually used to prosecute mobsters and other perpetrators of organized crime.

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Warren Evans

Detroit Police Chief Undone By The Lure Of Reality TV (VIDEO)

Eric Lach | July 23, 2010, 2:18PM

Fmr. Detroit Police Chief Warren Evans

Detroit Police Chief Warren Evans was forced to resign Wednesday, the same day that a local news station aired a slick six-minute video Evans made to pitch a reality TV show called The Chief, starring himself. Evans' ouster, and the public release of the video, ends a weeks-long story that began in tragedy but culminated in something closer to farce.

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Kwame Kilpatrick

Ex-Detroit Mayor Gets 18 Months To Five Years In Prison For Violating Probation

Ben Frumin | May 25, 2010, 10:48AM

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Disgraced ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced today to 18 months to five years in prison for violating his probation by not disclosing assets as required under a plea deal.

Judge David Groner slammed Kilpatrick in court today, saying that "your testimony in this court amounted to perjury" and that "the initial 120 days incarceration did nothing to rehabilitate you."

"Probation is no longer an option," Groner said. "That ship has sailed."

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Kwame Kilpatrick

Judge: Kwame Kilpatrick Violated Probation

Justin Elliott | April 20, 2010, 3:50PM

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Disgraced former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, now living in north Texas and working as a salesman for a tech company, may be headed for jail after a Michigan judge ruled today he violated his probation by not disclosing assets as required under a plea deal.

Kilpatrick has been slowly paying $1 million in restitution to Detroit as part of a 2008 settlement related to misdeeds, including lying about an affair with a staffer, according to the AP. But, the wire service reports, Kilpatrick hasn't exactly been living on the cheap:

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