A former Detroit mayor sentenced to 28 years in federal prison for extortion, bribery and conspiracy penned a blog post saying he underwent a spiritual transformation and wants president Donald Trump to commute his sentence.
Kwame Kilpatrick posted the lengthy plea for help Tuesday on his site Free Kwame Project.
After writing about how he reconnected with God and rediscovered his passion for service, Kilpatrick said he is ‘ready (mentally, emotionally, spiritually) to go home!’
‘Yes, I have made some very bad decisions in my life. Yes, I betrayed my wife and family because of my own lust and sin. Yes, I failed to deliver on the promises and opportunities that was given to me by the people of Detroit, Michigan. And yes, I have been severely punished for it,’ he wrote.
Former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick wrote a blog post asking president Donald Trump to commute his sentence
Kilpatrick was sentenced in 2013 to 28 years in prison for extortion, bribery and conspiracy. If Trump denies his request, Kilpatrick will remain behind bars until 2037
Kilpatrick, 47, said his family and ‘most Detroiters’ have forgiven him for what he did.
‘Our country has always been the land of 2nd Chances! I am hoping, confidently expecting, that I will have the opportunity to boldly move into the next season of my life; outside of these prison walls.’
The ex-mayor said that God had pardoned him and he was praying that he would receive ‘the opportunity for Pardon/Clemency from the President of the United States as well’.
Kilpatrick has already served seven years in federal prison. If Trump declines his request, he will remain behind bars until 2037.
Trump has not responded to the disgraced politician’s request. The president recently made headlines after he commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson for a nonviolent drug offense a week after meeting with Kim Kardashian, who had been pushing for the 63-year-old grandmother’s release.
Trump also pardoned conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza after he was convicted of campaign finance violations.
Kilpatrick previously sought a commutation from president Barack Obama, but the request was denied.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Kilpatrick filed his latest request with the Department of Justice. By filing for a commutation instead of a pardon, the ex-mayor is acknowledging his guilt but protesting the length of his sentence.
Trump recently freed conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza (left) and Alice Marie Johnson (right) from prison
Kim Kardashian had met with Trump at the White House to discuss the president possibly commuting Johnson’s sentence. Trump granted the request a week after the meeting
Kilpatrick was sentenced in 2013 to 28 years in prison for two-dozen felonies, including extortion, wire fraud, conspiracy and racketeering. While Kilpatrick was in office, he took cash bribes, misused nonprofit funds and used his power as mayor to fill the city’s payroll office with family and friends.
He was also convicted of running a racket out of the mayor’s office.
Kilpatrick served as mayor from 2001 to 2008. The married father resigned following a sexting scandal with his chief of staff Christine Beatty.
The Detroit Free Press reports that Kilpatrick has lost all appeals on his convictions but is still fighting in court to avoid paying more than $1.5million in restitution to the Detroit water department and $7.4million to a contractor involved in the water bid-rigging case.
Last week, he was moved from a prison in Oklahoma to a low-security federal prison in New Jersey. The federal Bureau of Prisons could not reveal why the 47-year-old was transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution at Fort Dix, but said that it considers security, facility population, programming and medical needs before transferring an inmate.