Former Detroit Mayor Convicted on Corruption Charges
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was convicted Monday on a raft of corruption charges, ensuring a trip back to prison for the notoriously scandal-ridden politician. Jurors convicted Kilpatrick on charges including racketeering and conspiracy, following a five-month trial that detailed how he accepted bribes, rigged contracts, and ran a “private profit machine” while in office until fall 2008. Among the most damning allegations: he used a nonprofit fund that was supposed to benefit Detroit’s most in-need residents to pay for his own yoga lessons, golf clubs, and camp for his children.
From the Detroit Free Press:
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his friend Bobby Ferguson removed their suit coats. Then their ties and jewelry came off in U.S. District Court this afternoon. Kilpatrick handed his driver’s license to his mother. The men, who were now handcuffed, were led out of the courtroom shortly after U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds ordered them into federal custody pending sentencing on racketeering and bribery and extortion convictions handed down earlier today in the public corruption case.
"Stay strong," Kilpatrick tells sobbing family members as he's handcuffed, led away.
Full list of criminal charges and convictions below the fold and an in-depth report and analysis here.