Among the many notables who received pardons from Trump are Death Row co-founder Michael “Harry-O” Harris. Fox News stated that Harry-O had served 30 years of a 25-years-to-life sentence for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and kidnapping.
Another significant commutation was given to former rising Democratic star Kwame Kilpatrick. He is the once-promising-but-disgraced ex-mayor of Detroit, who was the product of a political dynasty in Michigan that is now in ruins. Kilpatrick was serving a 28-year sentence on a slew of corruption convictions in 2013, including racketeering, bribery, extortion and fraud. Kilpatrick now leaves prison after serving only seven years.
Much like Lil Wayne, Kilpatrick applied the formula that was known to work on the egomaniacal and narcissistic Trump: heap effusive praise on him and compliment him profusely, even though those plaudits are not deserved.
Kilpatrick wrote a letter to Trump in 2019 lauding him on his “unprecedented success” in the White House.
“You have shaken up the entire world … and that is a great thing to behold,” Kilpatrick wrote to Trump, according to the Detroit Free Press. “You have vociferously exposed the treacherous and calculating schemes of our media and government that have worked to crush families, communities, and even Truth itself. Thank you for standing up, speaking out, and exposing this wickedness.”
The strategy worked to perfection. Kilpatrick is free.
