© 2024 MICHIGAN PUBLIC
91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit 104.1 Grand Rapids 91.3 Port Huron 89.7 Lansing 91.1 Flint
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
On this page you'll find all of our stories on the city of Detroit.Suggest a story here and follow our podcast here.

Kilpatrick leaves prison after 14 months

Former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick walks out the front door of a prison administration building. He climbed into a waiting SUV which quickly left the prison grounds.
(photo by Steve Carmody/Michigan Radio)
Former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick walks out the front door of a prison administration building. He climbed into a waiting SUV which quickly left the prison grounds.

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been released from prison, Steve Carmody reports. "Kilpatrick walked out of the prison in Jackson and hugged his lawyer. He then got into a SUV waiting for him and the vehicle drove away," Carmody reports from Jackson.

Kilpatrick served 14 months for violating probation in a 2008 criminal case. From the Associated Press:

The 41-year-old Kilpatrick is free on parole but still faces a federal corruption trial that could send him back to prison. He plans to re-join his family in Texas. Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and resigned from office in 2008 after he lied at a civil trial to cover up an extramarital affair with his chief of staff. That lawsuit cost Detroit $8.4 million. He was imprisoned in May 2010 for failing to disclose assets and surrender sufficient funds that could have reduced his $1 million restitution to Detroit.

The following statement was released on Kilpatrick's behalf shortly before he was released:

"I want to humbly thank all of the people who prayed for me and my family throughout this tumultuous time, especially during the past 14 months. Your prayers inspired me to press on as the Creator guided, trained, protected, covered, and loved me in ways that I never thought possible. During my incarceration, I learned, sometimes through very painful processes, how important it is for me to put God, Faith, and Family first. The Michigan Department of Corrections has given me only 24 hours to leave the state of Michigan, so I will be returning home to my family in Dallas shortly after my release. After I have reconnected and spent some much needed quality time with my family, I will begin to take interviews and to speak openly and honestly about my time inside and the truths and transformation this experience has yielded. Detroit, I will return to speak frankly with you about this experience because it has affected all of us. I am beginning anew. I am looking forward. I have new dreams and aspirations. I have a new hope. My greatest desire is that my testimony will give anyone who will listen permission to dream of greatness and to push toward it even in the midst of failure. I am expecting a breakthrough for all of us. Again, thanks to all for your well wishes, cards, letters, pictures, and prayers. Your faith, hope, and most of all, love, have contributed mightily to the development of my surrendered spirit and to the revelations of my heart."

Zoe Clark is Michigan Public's Political Director. In this role, Clark guides coverage of the state Capitol, elections, and policy debates.
Related Content