Post by ReignMan19 on Aug 2, 2011 10:00:51 GMT -5
Kwame Kilpatrick released from prison, meets with lawyers
Doug Guthrie/ The Detroit News
Jackson— Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was released from the front doors of the old State Prison of Southern Michigan this morning after completing the minimum of last year's 18-month to five-year sentence for violating probation on felony charges stemming from the text-message scandal.
Kilpatrick was granted transfer of supervision of his two-year parole to Texas, where he must report within 24 hours and can rejoin his wife and sons in the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie.
Kilpatrick, wearing a peach-colored, button-down, short-sleeved shirt and blue jeans, was seen at 6:12 a.m. hugging brother-in-law Daniel Ferguson just inside the double-glass doors of the stone entrance to the massive and mostly shuttered 75-year-old prison. Earlier, Kilpatrick had been brought in a prison minivan from the nearby Cotton Correctional facility to the old prison's office that is used to out-process paroled inmates. He changed out of his inmate's blue and orange uniform, and closed out his personal prison spending account, which contained 28 cents. He turned down a pack of gum and two condoms from the Michigan Department of Corrections, a longstanding and traditional offer.
Although media was kept about 100 yards away from where Kilpatrick, family members and his lawyer Daniel Hajji climbed aboard a black Cadillac Escalade for the ride back to Detroit's Federal District Courthouse, a man in the Kilpatrick party was given permission by prison authorities to take close-up video. Kilpatrick smiled and gave the cameraman a thumbs up as he walked to the SUV.
He made no public statement at the prison, but his sister, Ayanna Ferguson, who owns the company that is promoting Kilpatrick's soon to be released book, issued a statement on his behalf.
"Detroit, I will return to speak frankly with you about this experience because it has affected all of us," Kilpatrick said in the released statement. "I am beginning anew. I am looking forward. I have new dreams and aspirations. I have a new hope. My greatest desire is that my testimony will give anyone who will listen permission to dream of greatness and to push toward it even in the midst of failure.
"I am expecting a breakthrough for all of us."
Kilpatrick then arrived at the federal courthouse in downtown Detroit. He went inside briefly before returning to the Escalade without comment. He is expected to hop a flight later today to Texas from Detroit Metro Airport.
Kilpatrick lawyer Daniel Hajji said meetings in the federal courthouse with himself and Kilpatrick's attorney on the federal charges, James C. Thomas, were quickly completed.
"He's going to Texas as soon as possible to see his wife and kids," Hajji said. "I made arrangements for him to meet here in the courthouse, but after that I don't have any information about his plans other than to say he is in good spirits and anxious to go to Texas."
Hajji did say he got to talk to Kilpatrick about his Aug. 8 motion to strike down Wayne County Circuit Judge David Groner's escrow account that is capturing Kilpatrick's share of the proceeds from his book — "Surrendered: The Rise, Fall and Revelation of Kwame Kilpatrick" written by himself and local freelancer Khary Kimani Turner and now due out Aug. 9 — for the purpose of first paying restitution. The state prison system has a hearing before Groner on Aug. 10, to ask for money from the escrow to cover the cost of his incarceration. He also said Thomas had some pretrial matters to handle in the court.
Kilpatrick was indicted in December with his father, Bernard Kilpatrick, close friend and city contractor Bobby Ferguson, former Detroit Water and Sewerage Department director Victor Mercado and former aide and close friend Derrick Miller on federal charges that claim they ran a criminal enterprise that took millions of taxpayer dollars and instilled a culture of corruption in one of the nation's poorest cities.
The charges of racketeering, extortion, bribery, fraud and tax evasion portray Kilpatrick's entire career in public service — from the state House in Lansing to City Hall — as a racketeering conspiracy. They are punishable by three to 30 years in prison.
Kilpatrick is free on those charges on an unsecured bond, which means he wasn't required to pay money.
Regarding the 2008 text message scandal, Kilpatrick was sent to prison in March 2010 by Groner, who determined the former mayor violated terms of his probation by hiding personal finances from the court.
Kilpatrick's probation stemmed from when Kilpatrick admitted to lying when he testified in 2004 and 2007 in a whistleblower lawsuit brought by former Detroit police officers who said they were expected to facilitate and cover up Kilpatrick's extramarital affairs. Later release of text messages sent between Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, showed both of them lied when they denied under oath they had a sexual relationship.
Kilpatrick avoided trial on felony charges by accepting a plea-bargain offered in 2008 by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy that required him to plead guilty to obstruction of justice and assault on a police officer.
He agreed to resign as mayor, serve 99 days in the Wayne County Jail, surrender his law license and not seek elected office for at least five years. He also agreed to pay $1 million restitution to the city of Detroit.
Kilpatrick still owes the city of Detroit more than $800,000 of the $1 million he promised to pay as part of his punishment for the text message scandal.
Terms of Kilpatrick's parole today require him to report for two years on a regular basis to a parole supervisor in Michigan or Texas, and make regularly scheduled payments toward his restitution.
Kilpatrick isn't scheduled to meet with his parole officer in Texas until Wednesday, said Jason Clark, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
He is to meet in Fort Worth, Texas, on Wednesday with the person who will eventually establish the amount and scheduled for Kilpatrick to begin making regular payments toward the restitution he still owes Detroit.
Kilpatrick will need to obtain permission from his parole officer every time he wants to travel out of state of Texas.
"Mr. Kilpatrick will be treated like any other parolee," Clark said.
Other conditions of his release are standard for parolees, including violating no laws, not engaging in abusive or threatening behavior, possessing no controlled substances or firearms, and associating with no one he knows has been convicted of felony crimes or to be engaged in current criminal activity.
His travel may be restricted to within the state of Texas unless given special permission. Federal authorities have sought to prevent Kilpatrick from traveling internationally. His parole officer also has the option to impose drug and alcohol testing.
"Obviously, he was very happy to be leaving prison," MDOC spokesman John Cordell said this morning.
From The Detroit News: detnews.com/article/20110802/METRO/108020380/Kwame-Kilpatrick-released-from-prison--meets-with-lawyers#ixzz1TsreWVdp
