Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick Ready to Start Anew, but Freedom May not Last Long

Kwame Kilpatrick is out of prison now, but some legal experts say it’s only a matter of time before he’ll be behind bars again.

They contend the former Detroit mayor will have a tough time beating his pending federal public corruption case, which goes to trial in September 2012.

Some say cutting a deal is his only option and could lead to a sentence of 10-12 years in prison. He faces 15-20 if he goes to trial and loses.

“I do expect that Kilpatrick will take a plea,” said public corruption expert and San Francisco law professor Wes Porter. “The charges are so wide-ranging that they suggest to a jury truly pervasive conduct–bribery, extortion, obstruction of justice. . . .

“Kilpatrick represents the type of defendant that has dug such a hole for himself and his credibility, that (it) is very difficult to imagine that he could ever take the stand in his own defense or garner sympathy as a victim of potential government overreaching.”

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In the federal case, Kilpatrick, his father and three others are charged with perverting the city’s contracting system by shaking down contractors to steer millions in public funds into their own pockets.

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