Government intensifies fight for restitution ahead of Kwame Kilpatrick's GOP speech

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday accused former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick of falsely claiming he lived in Georgia in an attempt to “delay or thwart” attempts to seize money he owes taxpayers, according to documents filed hours before he was scheduled to speak at the Oakland County Republican Party's Lincoln Day Dinner.

Prosecutors made the allegation as part of an ongoing battle to collect $831,913 Kilpatrick owes taxpayers as part of the disgraced politician's historic conviction on public corruption charges. Federal agents and the U.S. Attorney's Office have been trying for more than a decade to bring to justice a corrupt politician portrayed in court documents as an unrepentant ex-convict who lied about his ability to pay damages while living a life of luxury, including leasing a $90,000 luxury SUV last year, several months before his wife's consulting firm bought an $807,000 home in Novi.

The U.S. Attorney's Office and Kilpatrick are fighting over more than $6,700 that investigators uncovered earlier this year. The money was discovered in late March after prosecutors ordered Michigan Department of Revenue officials to forfeit any money that might belong to Kilpatrick, including unclaimed property or tax refunds.

Treasury officials said they found $6,704.07, including overpayments to the city of Detroit, refunds, outstanding checks and vendor checks from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., a nonprofit organization that oversees U.S. broker-dealers and protects investors.

Kilpatrick fought the demand, denied he owed compensation, and asked a federal judge to schedule a hearing and move the litigation to Georgia, where the former Detroit mayor moved into a home owned by his mother, former Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, after former President Donald Trump commuted his 28-year prison sentence for corruption to probation in January 2021.

On Wednesday, less than two hours before the Lincoln Day dinner began, prosecutors noted that the house, 45 miles south of Atlanta, was for sale for $499,000 and that his new address was in Novi.

“Although Kilpatrick claims to live in Georgia, the address he lists as his residence is for sale and appears to be staged or unoccupied,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Nathan. “The government strongly suspects he is simply trying to delay the inevitable and is only wasting time and resources.”

“…the United States alleges that Mr. Kilpatrick's request for a hearing and change of venue was made solely to delay or frustrate the collection efforts,” it added.

Kilpatrick was found guilty of conspiracy to commit organized crime and 23 other counts and sentenced to 28 years in prison in 2013 for running a criminal enterprise from City Hall. He was also ordered to pay restitution to the Detroit Water and Sewage Department and the Internal Revenue Service. Trump commuted the sentence to restitution in January 2021, but Kilpatrick still had to pay restitution, albeit at a lower rate since government officials seized construction equipment belonging to co-defendant Bobby Ferguson.

Prosecutor Nathan noted in court filings Wednesday evening that court-related mail sent to Kilpatrick, Georgia, is being returned to Metro Detroit.

The former mayor has made minimal restitution payments in recent years despite having a new job. In November, he was named executive director of Taking Action for Good, a Tennessee nonprofit focused on criminal justice reform.

His salary was not disclosed, but according to federal tax records, the nonprofit's former executive director received $123,550 in 2001.

The motion landed on the court docket Wednesday, just before Kilpatrick experienced arguably the most spectacular moment of his post-prison life: that moment when a convicted felon who was once a rising star in the state's Democratic Party spoke to a group of Republicans in Oakland County.

In May, Kilpatrick attended a Trump campaign rally in Saginaw County. The former mayor endorsed Trump in the presidential election in June.

“I can never thank President Trump enough for what he did for me and my family in giving me freedom,” Kilpatrick said in June. “But I believe this election and the issues surrounding it affect every family and every person in America personally.”

When Trump commuted the sentence, Kilpatrick had already served about seven years in prison for his role in the City Hall extortion and bribery scheme.

“This commutation is strongly supported by prominent members of the Detroit community,” said a Trump White House statement in January 2021.

Kilpatrick and contractor Bobby Ferguson were found guilty after a six-month trial after a federal court jury found they turned City Hall into a “money machine” by squeezing millions of dollars from government contracts and spending the money on a luxurious lifestyle.

Upon his release from prison, Kilpatrick faced a massive debt, including over $1 million in settlements from the federal organized crime case and a separate texting scandal that led to his ouster as mayor of Detroit. As part of that scandal, he pleaded guilty to two felonies and agreed to spend 120 days in prison, repay $1 million to the city, resign as mayor and surrender his state pension to Detroit.

According to Wayne County District Court records, Kilpatrick has not paid any of the $854,063 he owes in restitution for the texting case since February 2013, despite leasing the SUV and selling copies of his memoir for $19.99.

Editors Craig Mauger and Beth LeBlanc contributed.

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