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Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is still holding out hope that President Donald Trump will grant him clemency like he did 11 white-collar criminals on Tuesday.
Harold Gurewitz, Kilpatrick’s appeals lawyer, told The Detroit Free-Press that the White House had not contacted his office, although he added that someone from the president’s administration might instead contact the courts. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also told the newspaper that it had not received word from the White House.
Last month, Kilpatrick’s friend, Peter Karmanos, forwarded Trump a letter, which was authored by Kilpatrick, requesting that the president commute Kilpatrick’s sentence as time served. Kilpatrick, who was sentenced to 28 years in prison, has been locked up since his 2013 conviction on 24 criminal charges including extortion, mail fraud, and tax violations. He currently resides in a federal prison in New Jersey. If his sentence is not commuted, Kilpatrick is not eligible for release until 2037.
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Karmanos said the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is handling commutation requests but that Trump is said to be considering it, according to Deadline Detroit.
Appearing on the “No BS Newshour” podcast last month, Karmanos said he was lobbying for Kilpatrick because the punishment was too harsh for the crime. He claims Trump is seriously considering the matter.
“I’m going to continue to push. It’s not right,” Karmanos said, adding that Trump may pardon Kilpatrick if he believes the former mayor can help him win Black votes in the 2020 presidential election.
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The White House declined to comment on the matter, according to the Detroit Free-Press.
Among those freed by Trump on Tuesday are ex-governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, who spent eight years out of a 14-year sentence behind bars for trying to sell his U.S. Senate seat; one-time New York police commissioner Bernie Kerik, who was convicted of tax fraud; Mike Milken, an investment banker convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy; and Eddie DeBartolo Jr., former owner of the San Francisco 49ers who pleaded guilty in the late 1990s for failing to report a felony in a bribery case.
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