Kwame Kilpatrick
22 May 2012. A federal grand jury indicted Kwame Kilpatrick, former mayor of Detroit, Michigan, on tax charges in June 2010. In December 2010, a grand jury charged him and the other men with running city hall like a criminal enterprise. In February, Kilpatrick and Ferguson were charged with extorting money from a city towing contractor.
Attorneys for Kilpatrick; his father, Bernard Kilpatrick; former Detroit water department head Victor Mercado, and city contractor Bobby Ferguson sought a four-month delay. They face dozens of charges ranging from fraud to extortion to racketeering.
The accused have pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
A fifth man charged, Kilpatrick’s former top aide Derrick Miller, reached a plea agreement and has agreed to testify for prosecutors.
The accused sought a four-month delay. Judge Nancy Edmunds’ rejected the request for delay. This means that the jury selection will begin 6 September 2012.
Kwame Kilpatrick graduated with honors from Florida A&M University (FAMU) and served as floor leader in the Michigan House of Representatives in 1996 – 2001. He was elected Mayor of Detroit, Michigan in 2001. His mother, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, represented Michigan’s 13th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives until she lost her primary election on 3 August 2010. Her election defeat could in part be attributed to the Kwame Kilpatrick scandals. Kilpatrick’s father, Bernard Kilpatrick, served as Chief of Staff to former Wayne County Executive Edward H. McNamara and currently operates a consulting firm called Maestro Associates of Detroit.
