Kwame Kilpatrick says his ’miracle moments’ include daily interactions with his new family—and a special visit with the man who became the 47th president.
NOVI, Mich.—A little more than four years ago, Kwame Kilpatrick—widely described as “Detroit’s disgraced former mayor”—was clinging to one small hope.
He had been convicted in a “pay-to-play” scandal that rocked the Motor City. It entangled more than 30 co-defendants including his father; the controversy cost Kilpatrick’s mother the congressional seat she had held for seven terms.
After exhausting every court appeal, he appeared doomed to fulfill the rest of his 28-year federal prison sentence—among the harshest a major public official had received in U.S. history.
Prosecutors said he “pervasively and systematically corrupted city government” throughout his six years as mayor; a jury convicted him of two dozen crimes including racketeering and fraud.
However, some people—even those who thought he was guilty—viewed his sentence as excessive. They didn’t think he deserved to be imprisoned a decade longer than many convicted killers in the United States serve.
In 2016, nearly 29,000 Kilpatrick supporters signed a petition seeking presidential clemency.
Regardless of any wrongdoing, Kilpatrick had brought new investments and optimism to a city suffering from the decline of its famed automobile industry, petitioners said; they were confident that, if released, he would harness his brilliant mind and communication talents to make amends in his hometown.
But President Barack Obama took no action for Kilpatrick, a fellow Democrat and early backer of Obama’s campaign to become the nation’s 44th president.
Clemency from the 45th president, a Republican who didn’t know Kilpatrick, seemed to be a longshot.
But 11 hours before President Donald Trump left office on Jan. 20, 2021, a Louisiana prison guard suddenly swung open the door of Kilpatrick’s cell and announced: “Man, you’re getting out of here.”
The guard displayed news articles confirming that Trump had commuted his remaining 20-year sentence.
After uttering, “Glory to God,” the 6-foot-4 prisoner crumbled to his knees. Sobs wracked his 275-pound body.
The “miracle” foretold to him had manifested, he said.
By Janice Hisle
