Third Eye Views

The government isn’t playing with these corrupted politicians any longer.  No mercy was shown to former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick today.  For he was sentenced to 28 years behind bars for his conviction on corruption charges, in which he schemed the city of Detroit out of an estimate $4.6 million.  Good Lord, 28 years for taking cream off the top of the pie?!

Well Judge Nancy Edmunds, felt as though the sentence fit the crime due to the fact that Kilpatrick and his longtime friend, and contractor for the city, Bobby Ferguson defrauded Detroit with their kick-back schemes which included racketeering conspiracy, fraud, extortion and tax crimes.  Edmunds stated that It was the citizens of Detroit who suffered,  which is why she handed down the 28 year sentenced that was requested by the prosecution.  Kilpatrick attorneys argued that he should be shown some leniency based on the good deeds he did do while being the mayor of Detroit.  Kilpatrick’s attorneys reminded that Judge, that it was during his years in office that the city prospered, due in part to the fact that the 2005 baseball All-Star game and 2006 Super Bowl was held there, in addition to the fact that he passed small business bills which allowed the growth of 75 new small businesses to open within the city.  Edmunds however, retorted and stated that he should not be given a pat on the back for doing the job that he was elected to do (tell that to Congress).   As we know, the city of Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy back in July, so I do believe that he should have been given more than a slap on the wrist, but 28 years to a former Mayor who’s been out of office for over 5 years?    Kilpatrick resigned as mayor back in 2008 over a sex scandal involving explicit text messages as well as having an extra marital affair.   Now please understand that in no way do I condone any corrupted politician, but let’s face it, Kilpatrick is not the sole culprit of Detroit’s historic bankruptcy.  I think Harold Gurewitz and Margaret Raben summed it up best when they stated, The government’s attempt to roll the city of Detroit’s 2013 bankruptcy filing into the … case oversimplifies the complex problems that Detroit has faced for more than five decades. 

The downfall of Detroit occurred long before Kilpatrick, and unfortunately, he made a big mistake by being part of the problem instead of being part of the solution.  Someone has to pay the piper, and Kilpatrick was handed a stiff sentence for a stupid mistake.