Kwame Kilpatrick files motion to vacate prison sentence

Kwame Kilpatrick (WDIV)

DETROIT – Former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick filed a motion last week to overturn his convictions and set aside his prison sentence.

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The motion was entered Wednesday saying the court had made several errors, many similar to the issues in his last appeal before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court upheld the corruption convictions.

Kilpatrick, 47, was sentenced to a term of 28 years in prison back in 2013 and ordered to pay $1,637,087 in restitution. Kilpatrick told the court in February that he doesn’t believe that he should have to pay because it’s impossible to calculate the amount of money he took from taxpayers.

Court records showed that Kilpatrick currently has 96 cents in his inmate account and has had an average balance of $55.34 over the last six months. 

The motion, which was entered Wednesday, alleges that the court erred in providing the jury with an incorrect instructions on the definition of “official act” and that a jury should have never found Kilpatrick guilty of the RICO conspiracy count.

Six court errors are listed in the motion, including allegations of an incomplete verdict rendered by a jury, the inability for a court to set a proper restitution amount, impermissible hearsay being allowed during testimony and inadequate trial counsel.

Kilpatrick resigned from office in 2008 after pleading guilty to perjury. He was later found guilty on 24 of 30 counts, including racketeering.

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