A request by former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to be released on bond has been denied by a federal judge who believes him to be a flight risk. Kilpatrick has remained in custody since his March 11 conviction on corruption charges, and will be detained until sentencing. He faces up to 20 years in prison, and may be forced to wait several weeks before learning his fate.
District Judge Nancy Edmunds dismissed Kilpatrick’s attempt to use his mother’s Detroit home as collateral for bond Wednesday, citing Kilpatrick’s failure to comply with the terms of his parole in the past.
“As the government established at the March 11 detention hearing, defendant Kwame Kilpatrick has demonstrated repeatedly that he accepted money from business leaders and family members, while at the same time lying to and misleading the courts about his assets and ignoring the direction of his probation and parole officers to report income and gifts.”
“Despite (Kilpatrick’s) repeated argument that he has fully complied with the bond conditions set by this court … the evidence is to the contrary,” she added.
Prior to his recent conviction, Kilpatrick had been on parole for a 2008 obstruction of justice conviction. In January, Kilpatrick was forced to spend a weekend in jail because of a series of parole violations.
He also still owes more than $800,000 in restitution to the city of Detroit for misconduct during his time as mayor.
Kilpatrick will not be allowed to travel to Texas to see his wife and three sons before his sentencing. He had traveled between Detroit and the family’s Texas home before his January parole violations.
The former mayor’s co-defendant, contractor Bobby Ferguson is also working to be released from jail, but remains in a federal prison in Milan.
