The King Kwame Press | Kwame Kilpatrick

KwameKilpatrickSucks.com, formerly KingKwame.com - The King Kwame Press, following Kwame Kilpatrick, deposed dictator of Detroit in his wacky adventures through life.

[kingkwame]

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While we don't update the main site very often, you can be sure to get all of our latest Kwame Kilpatrick updates by joining us on facebook at facebook.com/KwameKilpatrickBlows. You can also find us on twitter at @KwameSucks.

[kingkwame]

KTM (Kwame Time Machine) 2008: Owner of bogus mayor site fesses up

From Freep.com >>

BY DAVID ASHENFELTER

The man who created a Web site purporting to raise money for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's $1-million restitution tab admitted Monday that the pitch was a stunt.

"It was just a publicity stunt to get recognition," the man said Monday, adding that he created the Web site www.kwamekilpatrick2014.org to call attention to his blog, which he linked to the Kilpatrick page. The man wouldn't identify himself, but acquaintances told the Free Press and public records verified that he is Charles Fitch, 36, of Canton.

He also contended he created the site because he supports Kilpatrick and is angry that Gov. Jennifer Granholm conducted a removal hearing last week that essentially forced the mayor to plead guilty Thursday to two felonies in the text messaging scandal.

Kilpatrick's plea calls for him to serve 4 months in jail, 5 years of probation and pay $1 million in restitution for his role in settling a police whistle-blower lawsuit for $8.4 million last year to conceal text messages showing he and his former chief of staff had an extramarital affair, contrary to his trial testimony. He resigned effective Sept. 18.

The Web site's owner said the site didn't receive any donations and said he has PayPal records to prove it.

The Detroit Police Department said it has no plans to investigate the Web site.

The Free Press reported Monday that a Web user identified as [email protected] created the site Saturday, after the mayor pleaded guilty.

Mayoral spokesman James Canning identified the site Sunday as a fake.

The site exhorted visitors to support Kilpatrick for mayor in 2014, even though Kilpatrick, should he decide to run for mayor again, could not do so until 2017.

A link on the site directed supporters of the mayor to a page containing links to other sites registered to maxelll3752, including a get-rich marketing pitch and a gasoline raffle.

The site's owner said he runs a server that lists those sites but does not own them.

By early afternoon Monday, the portion of the site enabling contributions was removed.

[kingkwame]

Feds Say KwameDaddy Should Be In Prison, Too

October 12, 2013 at 7:29 pm Feds: Bernard Kilpatrick should spend 3 years in prison

Detroit — Former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s father Bernard should spend almost three years in federal prison for a tax crime stemming from the City Hall corruption case, prosecutors said.

Bernard Kilpatrick, 72, conspired with his son and contractor Bobby Ferguson to exploit city contracts and persuaded contractors to pay him for access to the former mayor, pocketing $1.3 million for mostly no-show work, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo. He also deposited more than $605,000 in the bank during his son’s reign even though he had no other source of income and was a bad gambler, prosecutors said.

The City Hall corruption jury found Bernard Kilpatrick guilty of one count of filing a false tax return, though it could not reach a unanimous verdict on racketeering conspiracy, a 20-year felony.

Bernard Kilpatrick will be sentenced on Oct. 17.

The tax charge is punishable by up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Prosecutors want Bernard Kilpatrick to spend 27-33 months in federal prison because of his background and need to avoid disparities with other similar convicted felons. He also should pay $98,262 restitution to the Internal Revenue Service, prosecutors wrote.

“It is a crime that was motivated by greed,” prosecutors wrote late Friday, the same day Ferguson was sentenced to 21 years in prison and one day after Kwame Kilpatrick got 28 years.

“Kilpatrick flagrantly used his son’s position as mayor to elicit more money for himself, for little to no work performed,” prosecutors continued.

Bernard Kilpatrick's lawyer John Shea could not immediately be reached for comment Saturday.

Bernard Kilpatrick was featured in one of the corruption trial’s most dramatic moments. He was shown on a hidden FBI video pocketing $2,500 from a sludge-hauling contractor who allegedly was paying bribes to win a $1.2 billion city deal. Prosecutors called it a bribe; Bernard Kilpatrick's attorney called it payment on an old debt.

Kilpatrick was convicted of failing to report $180,000 in 2005.

[email protected] [phone]

[kingkwame]

Bobby Ferguson Sentenced To 21 Years In Prison

From WXYZ.com >>

Bobby Ferguson sentenced to 21 years in prison

Posted: 10/11/2013 By: Heather Catallo

(WXYZ) - Calling him the catalyst of an unprecedented extortion scheme, Judge Nancy Edmunds sentenced Bobby Ferguson to 21 years in federal prison.

Ferguson got 7 years less than his long-time friend, former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Both were convicted in March of racketeering, bribery and extortion. Federal prosecutors said, Ferguson may not have been mayor, but he was the muscle and the money man, forcing other contractors to cut him in on lucrative city contracts.

Judge Nancy Edmunds told the 44-year-old that the pay-to-play atmosphere of corruption during Kilpatrick’s administration forced many people away from the city.

The judge slammed Ferguson for obstructing justice – both during the FBI investigation and by submitting a falsified document during the trial about the work his company did at a massive sinkhole.

Ferguson’s daughters and his soon-to-be-ex -wife held back tears as he spoke to the judge in a sometimes shaky voice.

Ferguson choked up when he told the court that today – his sentencing day – was also his wife’s birthday.

Meanwhile, Ferguson’s attorney Gerald Evelyn argued his client should not be made a scapegoat for the Detroit ’s problems.

“It isn’t just about trying to take Bobby Ferguson and Kwame Kilpatrick and make them be examples of the decline of the city. I think that’s an ahistorical point of view, it’s inconsistent, and I think its blame shifting to a greater extent that might be necessary,” said Evelyn.

The feds wanted Ferguson to get 28 years like Kilpatrick… but Evelyn had asked the judge for no more than 10 years in prison.

“Myself, and Ms. Van Dusen and Mr. Rataj, we put our heart and soul into this case, so it’s obviously troubling. Some people say it could have been worse, but the reality is, is that it’s still significant,” said Evelyn. Ferguson did not apologize – and he made no admissions when he addressed the court.

“We got an appeal, we got another trial. So I mean, you know, he’s not going to make those kinds of statements, and I thought that Bobby spoke from the heart, and he didn’t ask for anything for himself,” said Mike Rataj.

Ferguson is still heading to trial on a separate bid-rigging case in January. That’s also why you didn’t hear a public reaction from the prosecution today. But as for the Kilpatrick Corruption Case – here’s the breakdown of his sentence:

For the Racketeering and conspiracy convictions, as well as the extortion convictions from those multi-million city contracts, the judge gave him 20 years.

She gave him one additional year for the bribery conviction, which was the $75,000 payment Ferguson made to the Kilpatrick Civic Fund.

[kingkwame]

Kwame Gets Off Light With 28 years In Prison

Original Story on DetNews.com >>

October 10, 2013 at 5:43 pm 28-year sentence for Kilpatrick prompts strong reactions Judge on ex-mayor: 'This man chose to waste his talents' Jim Lynch and Robert Snell The Detroit News

Detroit — Kwame Kilpatrick has been sentenced to serve 28 years in prison for crimes of racketeering and conspiracy committed during his six years as the mayor of Detroit. That sentence was handed down Thursday afternoon in federal court by Judge Nancy Edmunds. Edmunds said she was required to issue a sentence that is “sufficient but not greater than necessary” for a criminal enterprise that ran from Kilpatrick’s time in the state House to the mayor’s office. She described the former mayor as a larger-than-life character who helped himself to a jet-setting lifestyle. A significant sentence, she said, sends the message that corruption won’t be tolerated. Kilpatrick appeared stunned at hearing his sentence, and a few in the courtroom crowd could be heard saying “Oh no.” If he serves the entirety of the 28 years, the 43-year-old would be 71 when he walks out of prison. After declining to testify on his own behalf during the trial, Kilpatrick spoke before Edmunds made her ruling. It was an emotional and occasionally apologetic speech that included the admission: “I really messed up.” “We’ve been stuck in this town for a very long time dealing with me,” he said. “I’m ready to go so the city can move on.” His speech touched on a variety of subjects from his time in office and beyond, including: ■His affair with his former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty: “I was mad at people for finding out.” ■His own shortcomings: “It was pride and ego that took over. I couldn’t lose.” ■His resignation from office: “I didn't realize then that I beat down the spirit and energy and vibrance of what was going on in the city.” ■His father, Bernard Kilpatrick: “He’s a real good man.” ■Stealing money from the city: “I’ve never done that.” ■The city of Detroit: “I want the city to be great again,” and to have a feeling “like it had during the 2006 SuperBowl.” ■His mother Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick’s term in office: “I killed her career.” It did not take long for reactions to begin coming in. Passion spilled over in front of the federal courthouse on Lafayette Boulevard between Kilpatrick supporters and detractors afterthe sentencing of the once-popular mayor. Downtown Detroit restaurant owner Larry Mongo told reporters he agreed with the sentence, but was immediately rebuked by another man who hurled expletives and insults at him. Other skirmishes erupted on either side of Lafayette. Law enforcement officers were outside to keep the peace. The exchange between Mongo and the other man brought Dean Ruffin to tears. She shrieked and cried out on the steps of the federal courthouseabout the many problems affectingAfrican-Americans in Detroit and across the country. “(Kilpatrick) is not the only black man who did it,” said Ruffin, who was was comforted by guards outside the courthouse. The Rev. Malik Shabazz and a handful of members of the Marcus Garvey Movement were upset by the judge's ruling, saying the sentence was yet another example of 500 years of oppression of African-Americans. “I think the judge could have been merciful. I think I would have liked to have seen the judge to look at the good that the man did and that he has a family,” Shabazz said. The Rev. W.J. Rideout, who occassionally counseled members of the Kilpatrick family, sat in the courtroom during the sentencing. As he stood outside the courthouse watching the overflow of emotion, he became visibly upset. “The judge did her job. She made a statement," Rideout said. “Political corruption is not going to stop her. Crime does not stop because one person gets convicted.” Anthony Kasperek, 28, who works in the financial services sector, was not surprised by the explosion of anger on Lafayette. “There have been years of pent up emotion on either side, years of suffocation that just surfaced,” said Kasperek, who stopped in front of the federal courthouse to watch the momentary chaos. As for Kilpatrick's sentence, “personally, for what he did to the city of Detroit I expected it. And I'm OK with it,” Kasperek said. Within minutes of the sentencing announcement, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson took to his Twitter account, writing: “What bothers me most is the sacrifice of a potentially brilliant career.#KwameKilpatrick” “They guy was intelligent, charismatic and greedy as hell.#KwameKilpatrick.” “This is the end of a long Greek tragedy.#KwameKilpatrick.” Barbara McQuade, the U.S. Attorney who oversaw Kilpatrick’s prosecution said: “This is an historic day in City of Detroit. ... It’s a powerful sentence and it sends a powerful message, I think, that the people of Detroit won’t tolerate this abuse of the public trust.” As for Kilpatrick’s speech in court, McQuade had a mixed review. “At the end of the day he did not accept responsibility for stealing from the people.” Prior to Kilpatrick’s address, his attorneys went to bat for him, saying he should not be punished for the sins of the city’s last 50 years. Their client, they said, hopes to use his ability and talents productively in the future. Kilpatrick’s legal team had pushed for their client to receive no more than 15 years and had asked the judge to send him to prison in Texas where his wife and children now live. Given their turn, prosecutors called Kilpatrick’s collected misdeeds “one of the most significant cases of public corruption … in the entire country.” The former mayor arrived in the courtroom just after 10 a.m., handcuffed and in khaki prison attire. During the early portion of the hearing, he appeared subdued, sitting with his elbows on the defense table as his attorneys argued he should receive no more than 15 years. Prosecutors and defense attorneys haggled over the estimated $9.6 million in profits reaped by Kilpatrick and co-defendant contractor Bobby Ferguson in their racketeering scheme. After hearing roughly 20 minutes of arguments on that key point, U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds set a conservative estimate of $4.6 million for sentencing purposes. Family members, many of whom sat through large portions of his trial, were not on hand, including wife, Carlita, and his parents, Bernard and Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick. Jurors found Kilpatrick, once the city’s favorite political son, guilty of 24 counts of misconduct — including racketeering and conspiracy — during his time in office. Today, seven months after the verdict, he faced the possibility of a prison term that could have kept him incarcerated for the remainder of his life. The courtroom at the Theodore Levin federal courthouse in downtown Detroit began filling up with attorneys and observers more than an hour ahead of the 10 a.m. start time for Thursday’s sentencing. Kilpatrick arrived at 9:25 a.m. in the company of the U.S. Marshall’s Service after being transported from prison in Milan. That final decision will be made by Edmunds, who oversaw the trial involving Kilpatrick and co-defendants Ferguson and Bernard Kilpatrick — a trial that ran for six months. Andrew Arena, director of the Detroit Crime Commission and former head of the Detroit FBI, said Kilpatrick and Ferguson did themselves no favors. “What’s not helping these guys was the fact they were committing crimes during the trial, hiding money,” he said. “(The judge must) send a message. These sentences (of public officials) used to be 10-12 months. I think now the court is trying to send a message that this is unacceptable.” Ferguson’s sentencing is scheduled for Friday. Kilpatrick and Ferguson were convicted of charges related to running a criminal enterprise and dipping into the city treasury to fund lifestyles that included custom-made suits, private jet travel and luxury resort stays. In court documents filed earlier this month, prosecutors wrote: “Kwame Kilpatrick was entrusted by the citizens of Detroit to guide their city through one of its most challenging periods. The city desperately needed resolute leadership. Instead it got a mayor looking to cash in on his office through graft, extortion and self-dealing.” Of Ferguson, they wrote: “It was Ferguson, rather than Kilpatrick, who was the ‘boots on the ground’ of the extortion enterprise, directly issuing threats to the local business people.” [email protected] [phone] George Hunter, Serena Maria Daniels and Oralandar Brand-Williams contributed.

[kingkwame]

Bad News For Tamara Greene Murder Case Appeal

Read it on our sister site, TamaraGreene.com >>

[kingkwame]

King Kwame Konvicted on 24 Kounts of Korruption

And, he's likely getting a minimum of 10 years in the hoosegow. Original Story on Freep.com >>

Legal experts say today’s verdicts in the Kwame Kilpatrick public corruption trial could bring at least 10 years of prison time for the former mayor and his contractor friend Bobby Ferguson, while Kilpatrick’s father faces a lighter sentence.

Walter Piczczatowski, a Bloomfield Hills attorney who specializes in federal criminal law, said Kwame Kilpatrick and Ferguson face at least a decade in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. And Kilpatrick will get additional prison time — perhaps as much as four years — because he was an elected official at the time of the crimes, Piczczatowski said.

Bernard Kilpatrick’s conviction will bring a lighter sentence – which could include probation - and the judge can take into consideration the age of the former mayor’s father.

Detroit Attorney Ven Johnson said U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds will likely want to send a message with her sentencing – that public corruption will not be tolerated.

“She’s going to throw the book at them big time,” he said. “She’s going to want this to be a lesson, to teach people out there that this is not how elected officials, how our government can operate.”

Johnson speculated that while the defense attorneys would seek immediate appeals, the sheer number of convictions – Kwame Kilpatrick was convicted of 24, and Ferguson nine – would make a successful appeal unlikely.

“It’s going to fall on deaf ears,” he said. “It’s pretty clear that jurors decided they were in on this, they knew what they were doing, that they conspired. These are very very serious conspiracy convictions.”

Detroit attorney Mark Kriger said the government was banking on jurors – a number of whom are African American – to set aside race in their deliberations. “And these verdicts affirm that the government made the right call,” he said.

The sheer number of witnesses testifying about the “pay to play” culture of the Kilpatrick era likely led jurors to convict without much hesitation, Kriger said.

“When you have one or two coming in, you might say, ‘Hey, they’re here to get a deal,’” he said. “But when it’s one after another, after another, it’s pretty compelling.”

[kingkwame]

Ex-Detroit cop in probe of Tamara Greene’s death can sue bosses

Read story on our sister site, TamaraGreene.com >>

[kingkwame]

Kwame's co-defendant Victor Mercado pleads guilty to conspiring with ex-mayor to commit extortion

Original Post on MLive.com >>

By Gus Burns | [email protected] on November 05, 2012

Amid a hiatus in the Kwame Kilpatrick trial, the defense has been dealt a blow.

Victor Mercado, Detroit's former water and sewer boss under ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and a co-defendant in the trial, admitted Monday that he conspired with the mayor to help Bobby Ferguson secure Water Department contracts between 2002 and 2008.

Mercado, 61, who lives in Florida could now spend up to 18 months in prison and be fined up to $100,000 per the plea deal he made with federal investigators Monday.

Mercado wielded great amounts of power while overseeing a department with annual expenditures near $1.2 billion.

To be found guilty of conspiring to commit conspiracy, one must conspire with two or more individuals to violate the Hobbs Act, essentially extortion.

"Guilty, your honor," Mercado said in court Monday, when Judge Nancy Edmunds asked for his plea. He wore a dark-colored suit, burgundy tie and white collared shirt.

Before accepting the plea, Mark Chutkow, an attorney for the prosecution, made a statement further explaining the extend of Mercado's role in the alleged City Hall corruption ring.

"Mr. Mercado did not take any under-the-table financial benefits," Chutkow said, was a "reluctant participant" and he did, "from time to time, push back, but he did compromise himself.

"This does not excuse his conduct," said Chutkow. "He was a high-ranking public official, but it does differentiate himself from the other defendants," Kwame Kilpatrick, Bernard Kilpatrick and Bobby Ferguson.

Edmund found Mercado to be competent and accepted the plea. 

"Kilpatrick used his position as Mayor of Detroit and Special Administrator of (the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department) to pressure city contractors-who submitted proposals to or were awarded contracts by (the Water Department) to give subcontracts or payments obtained under those contracts to Bobby W. Ferguson, or risk having the contracts delayed, awarded to competitors, or canceled, resulting in economic harm," the plea agreement signed by Mercado states, according to a Department of Justice release. "Invoking and otherwise exploiting his well-known affiliation with former Mayor Kilpatrick, Ferguson pressured city contractors to hire or pay him for DWSD contracts."

Edmunds said sentencing would be deferred until the conclusion of the Kilpatrick trial.

Testimony is expected to resume on Nov. 13. The trial is currently on hold while Ferguson's attorney, Gerald Evelyn, recovers from a medical problem he suffered on Oct. 29 that halted the trial.

[kingkwame]

Disgusting Racist Response to Disgusting Racist Email

A while back, we received this disgusting, racist email. Check it out if haven't yet.

Today, we received a disgusting, racist comment on the page. Don't you think this guy would've realized that his racist comments were going to be posted along with his real identity and email, just like the guy in the original email?

Here it is:

From: Justin Ward of Pontiac, Michigan Justin's Email:  [email protected] Justin's Facebook Page: facebook.com/fra.c.ward  His 2nd FB Page: facebook.com/CrazyJ66688

Justin's disgusting, racist comment: "it just goes to show you that you cant put a nigger in charge of anything. all they will do is  sit on there asses and play with there cell phones and text.  its in there nature to be dishonest and corrupt.  then they will blame it on the white man because we wernt trained good enough to be honest. so we had to be crooks. i havent seen a honest nigger yet. all they worry about is chaseing fat white women and crying racism.  that is all they got.  white people that are courupt will admit there dishonest. but a nigger that is corupt will blame it on the system that they were targeted for being black.  all i can say is change your color. they talk about the white person  so bad but they do all they can to look like us.  they have a scam for everything"

Everyone, go on over to Justin's facebook page and let him know what you think of him. Or, just email him.

[kingkwame]

Tamara Greene Murder Case... BACK ON.

Read over on our sister site, TamaraGreene.com >>

[kingkwame]

Kwame Gets A 4th Lawyer... at Taxpayers' Expense

Originally Posted on Freep.com >>

Federal judge to give Kwame Kilpatrick fourth attorney for public corruption trial

5:51 PM, August 15, 2012

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his attorney James Thomas make their way to federal court in Detroit, Wednesday, Aug 8, 2012. / ANDRE J. JACKSON/ Detroit Free Press

By Tresa Baldas | Free Press Staff Writer

Kwame Kilpatrick’s last-minute request for a new lawyer didn’t just create legal drama — it also landed him a fourth attorney at taxpayers’ expense.

One day after denying him a new lawyer, U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds wrote today that she would assign a fourth attorney to Kilpatrick’s defense team to handle any potential conflicts of interest involving a certain batch of government witnesses in the upcoming public corruption trial.

Those witnesses are connected to a separate, $25.5 million lawsuit against Kilpatrick and others over a sewer repair project that allegedly cost millions more than it was supposed to because of “grossly inflated invoices.”

Kilpatrick raised the civil lawsuit as a conflict of interest on Tuesday because his lawyer, James Thomas, works for the law firm representing the plaintiffs in that civil suit.

Thomas is not involved in the lawsuit, nor will he get any money if the plaintiffs win, according to court records.

In the criminal case, Kilpatrick is charged with steering some of the work from that sewer project to his longtime contractor friend and co-defendant Bobby Ferguson. To avoid any potential conflicts in the public corruption trial, the fourth attorney will cross-examine all government witnesses connected to that lawsuit. Those witnesses, Edmunds wrote, aren’t due to testify until October, “so a new attorney will have plenty of time to learn the case.”

The fourth lawyer was disclosed in a ruling in which Edmunds offered a detailed explanation about why she rejected Kilpatrick’s request for a new attorney. Edmunds concluded Kilpatrick’s request appeared to be a delay tactic.

It became especially apparent, the judge wrote, when the government offered a solution to clear up Kilpatrick’s conflict with his lawyer — but Kilpatrick wouldn’t give in.

“Kilpatrick’s inability to put that issue behind him suggests that he is manufacturing a wedge issue in an effort to delay trial,” Edmunds wrote in Wednesday’s order.

Kilpatrick, his father Bernard Kilpatrick, ex-water boss Victor Mercado and contractor Bobby Ferguson are charged with running a criminal enterprise through the mayor’s office to enrich themselves. They are charged with several crimes, including bribery, extortion and fraud.

On Tuesday, Kilpatrick told Edmunds that he doesn’t trust Thomas, and their relationship deteriorated beyond repair — largely because of a conflict of interest that Kilpatrick recently discovered.

Edmunds denied him a new lawyer, concluding he was stalling.

“Kilpatrick’s request is untimely,” Edmunds wrote. “Thomas has represented Kilpatrick for almost four and a half years in a number of state and federal cases, both civil and criminal … More importantly, Thomas has represented Kilpatrick in this case from the very beginning.”

"As recently as last Tuesday,” the judge wrote, Kilpatrick told the court he had no separate reason — apart from the recently discovered conflict — to want a new lawyer. He also “told the court that he loved Thomas,” the order says.

“Now, only six days later — and after 400 potential jurors have already filled out their questionnaires — Kilpatrick claims that his ‘love’ for Thomas has spiraled into an irreconcilable dispute,” Edmunds wrote. “Such an abrupt change is not credible — particularly given that Kilpatrick has ‘awaited trial for months without any complaints regarding his representation.’”

In arguing for a new attorney, Kilpatrick said he only recently discovered the conflict, which centers on one of Thomas’s former clients, towing contractor Gasper Fiore.

Fiore is one of the government’s witnesses in the public corruption case and has alleged that he was extorted for more than $50,000 by Kilpatrick and Ferguson — an allegation listed in Kilpatrick’s indictment.

To avoid any issue at trial, the prosecution said it was willing to drop Fiore from the case. The prosecution also said Kilpatrick has known about Fiore for months and signed a waiver of conflict in 2011 that specifically named Fiore.

“Kilpatrick’s attempt to turn Fiore into a recent revelation that has created a complete breakdown of the attorney/client relationship lacks credibility,” Edmunds wrote. Edmunds also stressed the importance of starting the trial as soon as possible. It is set to start Sept. 6, and jury selection proceedings are already under way.

“This case is one of the biggest criminal cases currently pending in this district. It is already consuming the resources of 400 potential jurors, at least 10 defense attorneys, almost 200 witnesses and much of the court’s staff,” Edmunds wrote. “The trial date has been set for over six months, and the court has set aside four month s of its calendar to try this case. Moving such a resource-intensive trial at the last minute would beg a logistical nightmare for all parties.”

[kingkwame]

Lawyer says Beatty was given $140k From Kwame's "Civic Fund"

Originally Posted on Freep.com >>

Kilpatrick's ex-mistress Christine Beatty got $140,000 from his civic fund, Mercado's lawyer charges

4:08 PM, August 6, 2012

By Tresa Baldas and Joe Swickard

Ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, left, and Christine Beatty. / Free Press file photos

Kwame Kilpatrick's ex-mistress Christine Beatty got a nice parting gift after resigning in 2008 amid the text-message scandal: $140,000 from the ex-mayor's civic fund, according to a defense lawyer in the public corruption case.

"A soft landing, if you will," was how attorney Martin Crandall explained it in federal court this morning as he argued his client, ex-water boss Victor Mercado, was not a member of Kilpatrick's inner circle, and that he "didn't get anything other than his salary."

"I want to show the jury what they got," Crandall said, referring to Kilpatrick's inner circle, "when Victor didn't get anything."

Crandall, however, did not provide any evidence that Beatty, Kilpatricks former chief of staff, received $140,000 from Kilpatrick's personal charity.

When asked how he learned about the alleged payment, he told the Free Press: “I knew that from reading other discovery documents. I want to show, essentially, what everybody who was an insider received while working for the Kwame Kilpatrick administration, because Victor was an outsider.”

Beatty’s lawyer said Crandall was trumpeting stale news.

“This is nothing new and no bombshell,” said Beatty’s attorney Jeffrey Morganroth. “This is two years old and has been thoroughly looked at.”

Morganroth said Crandall was referring to $100,000 Beatty got to help produce a full-color booklet touting the city’s progress under the Kilpatrick regime. The Free Press reported the payment in March 2010 and first reported on the publication in 2008.

“This was not a lump payment and it was no ‘soft landing,’ ” Morganroth said. “It was paid over the course of several months. Also, a lot of the money went to subcontractors such as printers.”

Crandall disclosed the alleged payment in court this morning in an effort to get more information from the prosecutors about evidence he believes could help him at trial. Specifically, Crandall said he wants financial records involving this alleged $140,000 payment to Beatty, and is hoping to obtain a copy of the exhibit that prosecutors will show jurors during trial confirming the payment.

None of the four federal prosecutors in court this morning contested Crandall’s allegation. Neither did Kilpatrick’s attorney James Thomas.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bullotta said the prosecutor's office will look through its financial records and turn over the requested material to Crandall if it’s there.

“If we have them, we’ll make them available within the next week,” Bullotta said.

Crandall's request came this morning before U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds, who heard several final requests from the defendants, including one involving an anonymous jury. Three defendants want the jurors' names to be disclosed. Edmunds agreed to let only their lawyers know the jurors' names, but prohibited the attorneys from sharing them with the defendants.

In another development today, Kilpatrick says he has no objection to Mercado getting his own trial. In a document filed today, Thomas wrote that his client supports Mercado’s request to be tried separately.

Mercado’s lawyer, who has threatened to disclose more damaging information about Kilpatrick at trial, is not surprised.

“I think they would rather Victor not be on trial with them. It would be an acrimonious trial,” Crandall told the Free Press today. “I would have to be antagonistic to (Kilpatrick’s) position.”

In court documents, Mercado, who is hoping to avoid a guilt-by-association verdict, has threatened to disclose things about Kilpatrick at trial that not even the government knows. Mercado says he was extorted by Kilpatrick and may make fresh allegations against him at trial, acting more like a "second prosecutor" than a co-defendant, according to court records.

"The jury will see evidence that the co-defendants received bribes, gifts, sham donations, misappropriated donations and private jet flights worth over a million dollars, just to name a few sources of illicit income," Crandall wrote in a recent filing. "Mercado, on the other hand, received absolutely nothing beyond his salary."

The U.S. Attorneys office is opposed to letting Mercado have his own trial, arguing in court documents that Mercado was a crucial part of the criminal enterprise who watched and let crooked deals go through on his watch.

Kilpatrick, Mercado, Kilpatrick's father Bernard Kilpatrick and his longtime contractor friend Bobby Ferguson are accused of running a criminal enterprise through the mayor's office to enrich themselves. They are charged with numerous crimes, including bribery, extortion and fraud. They all deny the charges.

The jury selection process gets underway on Wednesday, when 400 prospective jurors will come to the federal courthouse in downtown Detroit to fill out questionnaires asking about biases and exposure to any media coverage of the public corruption case. Jury selection will officially begin Sept. 6.

Opening statements are expected to start Sept. 14. The trial is expected to last up to four months and will be presented to the jury in the form of chapters.

[kingkwame]

Kwame vows to never go to prison again... Uhh...

Isn't this exactly what criminals say right before they go out in a blaze of glory and take dozens of innocents with them? Put surveillance on this jackhole if you don't want that to happen. --

Originally posted on DetroitNews.com >>

August 1, 2012 at 7:12 pm

Kilpatrick to meet with reporters, vows, 'I'm not going to prison'

By Oralandar Brand-Williams | The Detroit News

Ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will speak to members of the Detroit chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists this month. )

Detroit —Embattled former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will face local journalists in what's billed as his first lengthy "no holds barred" interview this month.

Kilpatrick will be interviewed by members of the Detroit chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists in a question and answer format during the chapter's regular general membership meeting at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 16 at the St. Regis Hotel. The event is not open to the public.

WWJ-AM (950) will run a podcast of the event on its website, http://detroit.cbslocal.com.

"This is the first time I've done anything like this since leaving Detroit almost four years ago," Kilpatrick said in an interview with Vickie Thomas, the president of the Detroit chapter of NABJ and city beat reporter for WWJ.

Kilpatrick is scheduled to go on trial next month on federal bribery and corruption charges along with his father Bernard, friend and city contractor Bobby Ferguson and former city water chief Victor Mercado.

The former mayor and the others were indicted in December on a 38-count indictment. Prosecutors say the former mayor and the men ran a criminal enterprise out of city hall.

"I'm not guilty, and I feel very strongly about fighting for myself and fighting for what is right and the truth," Kilpatrick told Thomas.

"I believe the people who are continuing to tenaciously pursue me know I'm not guilty, as well. And so, I want to expose the wrongs of a lot of things, and I'm looking forward to this fight. So, it's a different position that I have this time versus last time. I'm looking forward to the end, and I'm ready."

Kilpatrick added: "I'm not going to prison. I'm not going to spend another day there."

Kilpatrick was released from state prison last year after serving 14 months of a five-year sentence for violating probation related to charges the text-message scandal that drove him from office in 2008.

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[kingkwame]

Judge spells out rules for Kwame Korruption trial

Originally Posted on Freep.com >>

1:12 PM, August 1, 2012

Kwame Kilpatrick's public corruption trial next month will operate much like the terror trial of convicted underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab -- minus the metal detectors.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds issued an order today that covers courtroom conduct in what is expected to be among the biggest public corruption trials in Detroit history.

Under the order:

• The media is banned from blogging during jury selection to protect the privacy of the jurors.

• The jurors’ identities will remain confidential, and their questionnaires will remain under seal.

• No members of the public or reporters will be allowed to enter the trial courtroom once proceedings begin.

And to avoid anyone possibly tainting the jurors, Edmunds has prohibited any courtroom observers from attempting “in any way to influence or intimidate any juror or prospective juror through any means, including wearing or carrying any clothing, buttons or other items that may be clearly visible to the jury and that carry any message or symbol addressing any issues related to this case.”

Kilpatrick, his father Bernard Kilpatrick, his longtime friend Bobby Ferguson and ex-water boss Victor Mercado go on trial Sept. 6 on charges of running a criminal enterprise through the mayor’s office to enrich themselves. The 48-count indictment includes charges of bribery, extortion and fraud.

Jury selection will officially begin Aug. 8, when roughly 400 prospective jurors report to the federal courthouse in downtown Detroit to fill out jury questionnaires. Two brief court sessions will be held that day, both open to the public. 

At 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., Edmunds will give the prospective jurors instructions in one room, while the defense lawyers, defendants and prosecutors watch the proceedings in courtroom 858 via two-way closed circuit television. The prospective jurors will be able to see the defendants and the lawyers.

Only the judge will be in the same room as the jurors. Limited seating will be available for the public and media in courtroom 858.

The second day of the jury selection proceeding will be held Aug. 20 at 1:30 p.m. Lawyers will be allowed to challenge potential jurors based on the answers to their questionnaires. The next day, Edmunds is expected to finalize the list of prospective jurors who will return for individual questioning.

That questioning will begin Sept. 6 at 9 a.m. in Courtroom 858.

Opening statements are expected to start Sept. 14.

Edmunds’ courtroom conduct order is similar to the one issued in Abdulmutallab's trial, which ended with the Nigerian national pleading guilty last year to trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner with a bomb hidden in his underwear on Christmas Day 2009.

In that trial, jurors also remained anonymous, and no one was allowed to enter or leave the courtroom once proceedings started. Unlike in the upcoming public corruption trial, reporters were allowed to blog jury selection in the terror trial. It was the first time the federal court had allowed blogging during jury selection. 

Court personnel, however, opted not to do it again after concerns were raised about too much personal information getting out about the jurors in the terror trial, even though no media outlet ever identified a juror by name.

Jury selection is considered among the most crucial proceedings of a trial as it can make or break a case.

Ferguson’s recent bid-rigging trial, for example, ended in a mistrial last month due to one holdout juror. Multiple jurors told the Free Press the jury voted 10-1 to convict Ferguson on eight of nine counts, including bid-rigging, money laundering, illegal dumping and unlawful gun possession. The government will retry the case, likely after the public corruption trial.

[kingkwame]

Lawyers want Greene appeal on fast track

Posted over at our sister site, TamaraGreene.com >>

[kingkwame]

Kilpatrick ignores pension deals lawsuit

Originally Posted on DetNews.com >>

July 13, 2012 at 8:52 pm

Kilpatrick ignores pension deals lawsuit

By Robert Snell | The Detroit News

Detroit— Former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has failed to defend himself against allegations he participated in a scheme to strong-arm a city pension fund businessman for $125,000 worth of private jet flights, Prince concert tickets, steakhouse dinners, golf trips and VIP hotel rooms in Las Vegas, federal regulators said Friday.

A federal court clerk granted a request Friday from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to enter a default against Kilpatrick for failing to defend a civil lawsuit filed against him two months ago.

The request is the first step in pursuing a default judgment, SEC lawyer Timothy Leiman said. Kilpatrick had 21 days to respond to the lawsuit, which was filed May 9 in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

Federal regulators say Kilpatrick and indicted ex-city Treasurer Jeff Beasley accepted the gifts in exchange for approving pension deals pitched by Detroit businessman Chauncey Mayfield, whose firm reaped millions in fees.

The SEC wants Kilpatrick, Beasley, Mayfield and his firm, MayfieldGentry Realty Advisors LLC, to repay any ill-gotten gains, plus interest, and pay unspecified civil penalties. The SEC also wants to block Kilpatrick and Beasley from participating in any future investment decisions made by a public pension fund.

Beasley also hasn't responded to the lawsuit.

Kilpatrick was served with the lawsuit May 16 at his rental home in Grand Prairie, Texas.

"The defendant is not an infant, incompetent person or a member of the military service," an SEC official wrote in the default request filed Friday in federal court.

It's unclear why Kilpatrick hasn't defended himself. An attorney has not filed an appearance in the case.

Kilpatrick couldn't afford to hire lawyers to defend him in the City Hall corruption case set for trial in September. The former mayor, who is living in a 5,000-square-foot leased home in Texas, was assigned taxpayer-funded attorneys.

Kilpatrick did not respond immediately to an email seeking comment Friday.

The 27-page lawsuit is part political drama and part travel diary. Alongside allegations of hardball political tactics employed by high-ranking Kilpatrick aides, the lawsuit offers an intimate look at the jet-setting lifestyle of the mayor's inner circle.

The lawsuit also alleges how Mayfield's Detroit-based firm bought its way into managing part of a $300 million real-estate portfolio.

Kilpatrick and Beasley received the trips and perks while Mayfield was recommending that the city's pension funds invest about $117 million in a real estate investment trust, according to the complaint.

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