Former Detroit mayor Kilpatrick verdicts in

[Dr Mordrid]

FINALLY!!

Former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (D-Detroit), his father, and his best friend on 45 Federal charges, 38 ruled on. Totals being tabulated. The vast majority are coming down "guilty" including RICO (organized crime / racketeering) and fraud, so far. A bunch of 20 year felonies, and in the Federal system they have to serve 90% before getting parole.

Just one head of the hydra as the Feds disassemble most of the corrupt Detroit and Wayne County political machine. The county exec, his cohorts, and numerous others are under investigation, or have been charged, convicted, sent to Federal prison etc. including the wife of Rep. John Conyers, top Dem on (and former chair of) the US House Judiciary Committee. SHE was chair of the Detroit City Council.

What a f'ing mess

[Dr Mordrid]

http://www.freep.com/article/20130311/NEWS0102/303110133/Ex-mayor-Kilpatrick-Ferguson-guilty-racketeering-conspiracy-extortion?odyssey=mod%7Cdefcon%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE

Former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his longtime friend Bobby Ferguson have just been convicted of racketeering and extortion, marking an end to a more than decade-long public corruption investigation.

The three faced a combined 45 charges accusing them of racketeering, extortion, bribery and mail fraud, among other things.

Kilpatrick was convicted on 24 of 30 counts, including five counts of extortion, racketeering, bribery and several mail, wire and tax fraud charges. On three counts he was found not guilty and on three there was no verdict reached.

Ferguson was found guilty on nine of 11 counts, including racketeering and several counts of extortion. He was found not guilty on one count and there was no verdict on another.

Bernard Kilpatrick was convicted on one of four counts. He was convicted on a tax charge. There was no verdict for Bernard Kilpatrick on the racketeering charge and he was found not guilty on two other charges – attempted extortion and a tax charge.

Detention will be addressed by U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds at 1:30 p.m. The U.S. Attorney’s Office wants all three men to be detained.

The most weighty of the charges was the one levied under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO), a 1970 law that was initially designed to combat organized crime but has since been used in several public corruption trials. In the Detroit case, prosecutors charged the group they called the “Kilpatrick Enterprise” engaged in a pattern of criminal activity – one of the requirements of RICO Â*-- that included at least two criminal acts.

Asked to comment after the hearing, Kwame Kilpatrick said: “Not at this time.”
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