Trump Commutes Sentence of Ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

President Donald Trump has commuted the prison sentence of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who has served about seven years of a 28-year sentence for corruption.

The announcement Wednesday morning was part of a flurry of clemency action in the final hours of Trump’s White House term. A White House statement noted that prominent members of the Detroit community had supported the former Democratic mayor’s commutation and it said that while in prison Kilpatrick “taught public speaking classes and has led Bible Study groups with his fellow inmates.”

Kilpatrick was convicted in 2013 of racketeering conspiracy, fraud, extortion and tax crimes. The government called it the “Kilpatrick enterprise,” a yearslong scheme to shake down contractors and reward allies.

“Kwame Kilpatrick is a person of great talent who still has much to contribute. I know how close he is to his three sons and I could not be happier for them being together again,” Mayor Mike Duggan said on Twitter. “This is a decision President Trump got right.

“Kwame Kilpatrick has earned every day he served in federal prison for the horrible crimes he committed against the People of Detroit.  He is a notorious and unrepentant criminal,” U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider stated. “He remains convicted of 24 felonies.  Kilpatrick has served only one quarter of the sentence that was very appropriately imposed.  Thankfully, under Michigan law, he cannot hold state or local public office for 20 years after his conviction.”