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Trump commutes sentence of ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Kwame Kilpatrick mugshot
Wikimedia Commons

President Donald Trump has commuted the 28-year prison sentence of disgraced former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was convicted on federal corruption charges and has served about seven years. The announcement Wednesday came in a flurry of clemency action in the final hours of Trump's White House term. A White House statement notes that prominent members of the Detroit community supported the Democrat's commutation and that while in prison Kilpatrick has "taught public speaking classes and has led Bible Study groups." 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.