Kwame Kilpatrick trial
The former mayor of Detroit was found guilty on March 11 of 24 charges connected to his time in office. Twelve jurors agreed that Kwame Kilpatrick, 42, was guilty of racketeering, extortion, attempted extortion, bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud and filing false tax returns. Additionally, Kilpatrick’s 71-year-old father, Bernard Kilpatrick, was found guilty of one tax count.
After deliberating for 15 days after the five-month trial, jurors told Judge Nancy Edmunds that they believed Kilpatrick used the mayor’s office to receive bribes. Furthermore, jurors sided with the prosecution, which charged that Kilpatrick steered $83 million in city contracts to Bobby W. Ferguson in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks.
Kilpatrick’s racketeering count by itself carries a possibility of up to 20 years in prison.
This story is still developing … –danielle canada
