Lawyer: Kilpatrick Sentence No More Than 15 Years
Detroit (WWJ)- Kwame Kilpatrick's attorney is asking a federal judge to sentence the former Detroit mayor to less than 15 years in prison.
Federal prosecutors are seeking a sentence of at least 28 years. But a 27-page sentencing memo filed Friday claims the government overstated Kilpatrick's criminal history and didn't have "sufficient evidence" for other crimes.
The document says "there was no evidence that Defendant (Kilpatrick) received this amount of extorted money from Mr. Ferguson, there was no evidence that Defendant knew how much Mr. Ferguson was seeking or receiving from the city vendors, there was no evidence presented at trial that this $9+ million amount represents Mr. Ferguson's "profits."
The filing also says "Mr. Kilpatrick objects to the use of 10%, or any percentage within the range of 10-71% as the factor to attribute any portion of what are described as Mr. Ferguson's "profits", to Mr. Kilpatrick. The information said to support this theory, described as "Mr. Ferguson's own records," is not reliable. The information used by this Court to resolve disputes about factors important to the sentencing determination must have sufficient indicia of reliability to support its probable accuracy. There has been no disclosure to Kilpatrick of the nature or content of the "records" on which this alleged profit margin is based and there is no reference to any trial evidence that supports the accuracy of this percentage.
In March, a federal jury convicted Kilpatrick on two dozen charges of racketeering, conspiracy, fraud and tax crimes committed while he ran the city of Detroit.
His friend and co-defendent, Bobby Ferguson, was found guilty on similar charges. The government is recommending 14 to 28 years in prison for Ferguson.
Both men will be sentenced Thursday, October 10th.
