Kwame Kilpatrick

Kwame Malik Kilpatrick (born June 8, 1970) is an American politician, convicted fraudster and racketeer, who previously served as the 72nd mayor of Detroit – from 2002 to 2008.

Kwame Malik Kilpatrick was born June 8, 1970, to Bernard Kilpatrick and Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick.

Since the 1970s, a federal judge had made the mayor of Detroit the special administrator of the Detroit Water Department because of severe pollution issues.

Kilpatrick's mother Carolyn was a career politician, representing Detroit in Michigan House of Representatives from 1979 to 1996 and serving in the United States House of Representatives for Michigan's 13th congressional district from 1996 to 2010.

His parents divorced in 1981.

He was elected to the Wayne County Commission, served as head of Wayne County Health and Human Services Department from 1989 to 2002, and as chief of staff to former Wayne County Executive Edward H. McNamara.

Later he operated a Detroit consulting firm called Maestro Associates.

Kilpatrick attended Detroit's Cass Technical High School and graduated from Florida A&M University with a Bachelor of Science degree in political science in 1992.

He played football under Ken Riley.

On September 9, 1995, he married Carlita Poles in Detroit.

They have three children together, Jalil, Jonas, and Jelani.

Kilpatrick was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 1996 after his mother vacated her Detroit-based seat to mount a successful bid for Congress.

Kilpatrick's campaign staff consisted of high school classmates Derrick Miller and Christine Beatty, who became his legislative aide; later, Kilpatrick had an affair with Beatty.

According to Kilpatrick, the campaign was run on a budget of $10,000 and did not receive endorsements from trade unions, congressional districts, or the Democratic establishment.

A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the 9th district in the Michigan House of Representatives from 1997 to 2002.

Kilpatrick was elected minority floor leader for the Michigan Democratic Party, serving in that position 1998 to 2000.

In 1999 he received a Juris Doctor from Detroit Mercy He has a sister Ayanna and a half-sister, Diarra.

He was subsequently elected as house minority leader in 2001, the first African-American to hold that position.

Later in 2001, Kilpatrick ran for mayor of Detroit, hiring Berg/Muirhead Associates for his campaign.

They were retained as his public relations firm upon his election.

On New Year’s Day 2002, Kilpatrick became the youngest mayor of Detroit when he took office at age 31.

During his first term, Kilpatrick was criticized for using city funds to lease a Lincoln Navigator for use by his family and using his city-issued credit card to charge thousands of dollars' worth of spa massages, extravagant dining, and expensive wines.

Kilpatrick paid back $9,000 of the $210,000 credit card charges.

Meanwhile, Kilpatrick closed the century-old Belle Isle Zoo and Belle Isle Aquarium because of the city's budget problems.

The City Council overrode his funding veto for the zoo and gave it a budget of $700,000.

In 2005, Time magazine named Kilpatrick as one of the worst mayors in America.

When serious questions about water department contracts came to light in late 2005, Judge Feikens ended Kilpatrick's special administratorship in his capacity as mayor.

In January 2006, The Detroit News reported that, "Kilpatrick used his special administrator authority to bypass the water board and City Council on three controversial contracts."

These included a $131 million radio system for the city's police and fire departments, as well as a no-bid PR contract to a close personal aide.

Kilpatrick resigned as mayor in September 2008 after being convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice.

He was sentenced to four months in jail and was released on probation after serving 99 days.

In May 2010, Kilpatrick was sentenced to eighteen months to five years in state prison for violating his probation, and served time at the Oaks Correctional Facility in northwest Michigan.

She was not re-elected to office because she lost her primary election in August 2010 to State Senator Hansen Clarke.

NPR and CBS News both noted that throughout her re-election campaign, Carolyn was dogged by questions about Kilpatrick following his tenure as mayor of Detroit.

Kilpatrick's father Bernard was a semi-professional basketball player and politician.

In March 2013, he was convicted on 24 federal felony counts, including mail fraud, wire fraud, and racketeering.

In October 2013, Kilpatrick was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison, and was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in El Reno, Oklahoma.

In January 2021, after serving 76 months of his 336-month sentence, President Donald Trump commuted his sentence.

Kilpatrick filed for divorce from Carlita in 2018.

In July 2021 he married Laticia Maria McGee at Historic Little Rock Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit.