DETROIT – Judge Nancy Edmunds shared some thoughts about former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on Thursday in court before handing down his sentence.
At one point the judge said "without accountability and transparency, democracy is impossible."
Story: Corrupt Kwame Kilpatrick gets 28 years in prison
"I believe that's what's happened in this case," said Judge Edmunds. "We've lost transparency. We lost accountability. So much business was being done behind closed doors without anyone looking into it until the press got into it and opened the door to what was transpiring in City Hall."
Edmunds did not stop there. She went on to say "I hope that this sentence will give the message that we are demanding transparency in our government, that we expect it, that if there was corruption in the past there will be corruption no more."
Judge Edmunds later wrapped up by saying "In my mind, the government has asked for a sentence of at least 28 years, and I believe that is where this sentence should be."