DETROIT — President Donald Trump has commuted the prison sentence of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who has served about seven years of a 28-year sentence for corruption.The announcement Wednesday was part of a flurry of clemency action in the final hours of Trump s White House term that benefited more than 140 people, including rap performers, ex-members of Congress and other allies of Trump and his family.A White House statement said that prominent members of the Detroit
Jan 21, 2021 WASHINGTON A former congressman who pocketed millions of dollars in bribes from defense contractors. A Republican fundraiser who was paid handsome sums to illicitly lobby a presidential administration. An influential voice in conservative circles accused of duping donors who supported a border wall. Donald Trump’s final batch of more than 140 pardons and sentence commutations, issued in his last hours as president, benefited an ignominious list of defendants whose swindles, frauds and public corruption made them unlikely candidates for executive clemency. The recipients included people who not only abused their own positions of power but who also leveraged well-placed connections to pursue pardons from a president willing to use his authority to bless patrons and friends.
Nightside Report Jan. 20, 2021: Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick released from prison, State health officials give update on how Michigan is doing against COVID-19
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US releases former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from prison
DETROIT – Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who has served more than seven years of a 28-year prison sentence for corruption crimes, was released from federal prison Wednesday after President Donald Trump commuted his sentence, a Bureau of Prisons spokesman told The Associated Press.
The announcement came in a flurry of clemency action in the final hours of Trump’s White House term that benefited more than 140 people, including rappers, former members of Congress and other Trump allies.
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Back in 2013, former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was found guilty of multiple counts of racketeering and extortion in a federal court. A jury took 15 days to decide that Kilpatrick and his friend, contractor Bobby Ferguson, were guilty of governmental malfeasance.
He was convicted of 24 charges, including extortion, mail fraud, and tax violations.
He asked then-President Donald Trump for clemency.
“Mr. President, I am humbly and respectfully asking that you will extend your heart to me and my family, for another chance at abundant life. I am humbly requesting that you would give me relief from this egregious and unjust federal prison sentence of 28 years. With ONE STROKE OF YOUR PEN, you would give new life, freedom and hope to me, my family, and many who will be served by your gesture of kindness, mercy, and forgiveness. (Clemency Case Number: C199974…KILPATRICK)”.
Joe Biden takes part in virtual prayer service broadcast from National Cathedral in final act of his COVID-safe inauguration – before getting to work on dealing with pandemic
Joe Biden will close out his inaugural events Thursday morning by watching a virtual inauguration prayer service hosted by the Washington National Cathedral before getting to work
The president will deliver remarks on his administration s plan to tackle the coroanvirus pandemic before signing even more executive orders and actions related to the crisis
He will then receive an update from his COVID-19 task force, led by Obama-era veteran Jeff Zients
On Wednesday, Biden spent his first few hours as president signing 17 executive orders and actions, undoing much of donald Trump s legacy – like the southern border wall and Muslim travel ban