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| FILE - In this May 25, 2010, file photo, former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick sits at his sentencing in Wayne County Circuit Court on an obstruction-of-justice conviction. Kilpatrick has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for corruption that turned city hall into a pay-to-play parlor. |
DETROIT (AP)
-- A former Detroit mayor was sent to federal prison for nearly three
decades Thursday, after offering little remorse for the widespread
corruption under his watch but acknowledging he let down the troubled
city during a critical period before it landed in bankruptcy.
Prosecutors
argued that Kwame Kilpatrick's "corrupt administration exacerbated the
crisis" that Detroit now finds itself in. A judge agreed with the
government's recommendation that 28 years in prison was appropriate for
rigging contracts, taking bribes and putting his own price on public
business.
It is one of the toughest penalties
doled out for public corruption in recent U.S. history and seals a
dramatic fall for Kilpatrick, who was elected mayor in 2001 at age 31
and is the son of a former senior member of Congress.
While
Detroit's finances were eroding, he was getting bags of cash from city
contractors, kickbacks hidden in the bra of his political fundraiser and
private cross-country travel from businessmen, according to trial
evidence.
Kilpatrick, 43, said he was sorry if he let down his hometown but denied ever stealing from the citizens of Detroit.
"I'm
ready to go so the city can move on," Kilpatrick said, speaking softly
with a few pages of notes before U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds
ordered the sentence.
"The people here are suffering, they're hurting. A great deal of that hurt I accept responsibility for," he said.
In
March, he was convicted of racketeering conspiracy, fraud, extortion
and tax crimes. The government called it the "Kilpatrick enterprise," a
yearslong scheme to shake down contractors and reward allies. He was
doomed by his own text messages, which revealed efforts to fix deals for
a pal, Bobby Ferguson, an excavator.
Prosecutors
said $73 million of Ferguson's $127 million in revenue from city work
came through extortion.
The government alleged that he in turn shared
cash with Kilpatrick.
Agents who pored over
bank accounts and credit cards said Kilpatrick spent $840,000 beyond his
salary during his time as mayor, from 2002 to fall 2008. Defense
attorneys tried to portray the money as generous gifts from political
supporters who opened their wallets for birthdays or holidays.
"It
is difficult to quantify the total cost of the devastating corruption
instigated by Kilpatrick. ... But one thing was certain: It was the
citizens of Detroit who suffered when they turned over their hard-earned
tax dollars but failed to receive the best services," the judge said.
Kilpatrick
was convicted in March, just days before Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder sent
an emergency manager to Detroit to take control of city operations. The
city filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in July, overloaded with at least
$18 billion in long-term debt.
Edmunds said
Kilpatrick can't be blamed for the bankruptcy - he's been out of office
for five years - but "corruption has its own cost."
"We're
demanding transparency and accountability in our government. We expect
it," the judge said. "If there has been corruption in the past, there
will be corruption no more. We're done. It's over."
Kilpatrick
covered much ground in his 30 minutes of remarks to the judge. He said
he hated being mayor after just six months because the job was so
difficult. He lamented that his three sons now will grow up without
their father, a problem in black families, and said his scandals
"killed" the political career of his mother, former U.S. Rep. Carolyn
Cheeks Kilpatrick, a Democrat who lost re-election in 2010.
The
former mayor didn't specifically address his crimes, though he said he
respected the jury's verdict. An appeal is certain. He said his family
wasn't in the courtroom because he didn't want to make them
uncomfortable under the media glare.
"I want
the city to heal. I want it to prosper. I want the city to be great
again," he told the judge. "I want the city to have the same feeling it
had in 2006, when the Super Bowl was here."
The sentence was a victory for prosecutors. Defense attorneys argued for no more than 15 years in prison.
The
punishment matches the 28-year sentence given to former Cuyahoga
County, Ohio, Commissioner James Dimora in 2012. In Illinois, former
Gov. Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison for trying to
peddle President Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat for personal gain.
Outside court, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said Kilpatrick seemed to be contrite but not enough.
"At
the end of the day, he did not accept responsibility for stealing from
the people of Detroit. ... That to me diminished the impact of his
words," said McQuade, who noted that public contracts ended up costing
more money because the fix was in for Kilpatrick's buddy Ferguson.
Kilpatrick
also tapped a nonprofit fund, which was created to help distressed
Detroit residents, to pay for yoga, camps for his kids, golf clubs and
travel, according to evidence.
Kilpatrick quit
office in 2008 in a different scandal. Sexually explicit text messages
revealed that he had lied during a trial to cover up an affair with his
top aide, Christine Beatty, and to hide the reasons for demoting or
firing police officers who suspected wrongdoing at city hall.
After
more than three hours in court Thursday, Kilpatrick stood up and
stretched by twisting his waist. He looked for friendly faces in the
gallery, placed his hands behind his back for handcuffs and was escorted
away. He hopes to be assigned to a federal prison near family in Texas.
