Ex-Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick Facing New Charges

The Associated Press is reporting that imprisoned ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was indicted Wednesday on new corruption charges, and his father, Bernard Kilpatrick, also was implicated in what a federal prosecutor called a “pattern of extortion, bribery and fraud” among some of the city’s most prominent officials. U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade announced the 38-count indictment…

The Associated Press is reporting that imprisoned ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was indicted Wednesday on new corruption charges, and his father, Bernard Kilpatrick, also was implicated in what a federal prosecutor called a “pattern of extortion, bribery and fraud” among some of the city’s most prominent officials. U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade announced the 38-count indictment during a news conference. The indictment also lists longtime Kwame Kilpatrick associate Bobby Ferguson, ex-city water director Victor Mercado and ex-mayoral aide Derrick Miller.

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According to the new indictment, the then-mayor and the others used his office to extort contractors. Bernard Kilpatrick and Miller helped hold up a $50 million sewer-lining contract until the winning bidder agreed to bring Ferguson’s business into the deal, the indictment said. It said Ferguson ended up receiving $24.7 million in business. Now, that’s gangsta. Detroit really is the wild, wild Midwest.

Read more at NPR.

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