Allies vow to continue working to free Kwame Kilpatrick, allege conspiracy

Less than a day after federal prison officials denied the dream of Kwame Kilpatrick and friends who expected the former Detroit mayor to be freed 21 years early, supporters vowed to fight on — even alleging a conspiracy.

Sabrina Taylor, a spokeswoman for the Ebony Foundation, which first announced Kilpatrick's imminent release, said Wednesday: "There was a case manager on April 17 who went on notice and recommended one path and yesterday that path was reversed by somebody who stepped in over the weekend."

To support her claim, Taylor provided the Free Press an April 17 memo from the warden at the Oakdale, Louisiana, low-security prison to Kilpatrick advising him that he had been identified as being part of a risk group susceptible to the coronavirus. The letter encouraged Kilpatrick to contact prison staff if he felt ill, to wear a mask, practice social distancing, wash his hands frequently, and sanitize his cell. The single page provided to the Free Press makes no mention of an early release. 

Officials at Oakdale and the federal Bureau of Prisons headquarters in Washington, D.C., did not return messages Wednesday. Kilpatrick's case manager declined to comment on his status.

Daniel Ferguson III, who was married to Kilpatrick's sister Ayanna, said he was bewildered to learn prison officials would not release the former mayor to home confinement with his mother in Georgia. Ferguson said he heard Oakdale has a new warden, and theorized that may have been a factor. A television station in Louisiana quoted a local union official as saying the warden had been removed.

The official said the warden's removal came after the union sent a letter to the Bureau of Prisons complaining that the warden had not done enough to protect workers from exposure to COVID-19. Oakdale is one of the federal prisons hardest hit by the spread of the coronavirus.

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"Knowing the system and the BOP, the new warden is probably doing his due diligence and I’m hopefully confident he will release KMK," Ferguson said, referring to the federal Bureau of Prisons and his former brother-in-law by their initials.

Ferguson said he hoped his cousin Bobby Ferguson, who is incarcerated at Elkton prison, which also has experienced a COVID-19 outbreak, might also win early release. Bobby Ferguson, a former contractor and confidant of Kilpatrick, was convicted with the former mayor in U.S. District Court in 2013 on multiple public corruption charges ranging from racketeering to extortion to fraud.

State Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, D-Detroit, who earlier this year hand-delivered a letter on Kilpatrick's behalf to President Donald Trump during a White House event, said late Tuesday after learning the Bureau of Prisons had denied Kilpatrick's bid for early release: "I'm very disappointed and want to know why a sitting president would lie."

She said state Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, told her Friday that Trump said during his visit to Michigan the day before that Kilpatrick would be freed.

Taylor said the Ebony Foundation would lead the charge to get Kilpatrick freed early. She said Team Ebony will hold a national virtual town hall meeting on June 5 to draw attention to their campaign for criminal justice reform.

Pardon still possible

Long before word spread that Kilpatrick may be released to home confinement, the former mayor appealed to Trump for clemency.

That request for commutation of his sentence was still pending as of May 1, the most recent date for which information is available.

The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of the Pardon Attorney says on its website that "The President always retains the plenary power granted to him by the Constitution to pardon or commute sentences at his sole discretion, with or without the advice of the Pardon Attorney and Department of Justice."

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The department says it "does not reveal at what stage within the clemency process any given case may be" and that it is "unable to predict when the President will grant or deny a clemency request."

Mayor on mayor

When Mayor Mike Duggan was asked last week at his Friday briefing to comment on the purported release of his longtime friend and political ally, the mayor greeted the news. 

“He is one of the most extraordinarily talented people I've ever met," Duggan said. “I think he has a lot to contribute. And if in fact the reports are true, I will do everything I can to help give him a fresh start.”

Asked at his Wednesday briefing to comment on the latest development, Duggan said: “I don’t know any more than what I’ve read, but as I’ve said many times, my relationship with Kwame Kilpatrick is personal. It’s deep and I’m not objective when it comes to him. I hope he has an opportunity to contribute to the community and when that day comes, I’m going to be supportive of it.”

Staff writers Frank Witsil and Tresa Baldas contributed to this report. M.L. Elrick is a Pulitzer Prize- and Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter. Contact him at melrick@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter at@elrick on Facebook at ML Elrick or on Instagram at ml_elrick.