Kilpatrick injured knee, his lawyer says

DETROIT, March 27 (UPI) -- Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is requesting to be released from prison after seriously injuring his knee, his lawyer wrote in court documents.

Kilpatrick's attorney, James Thomas, repeated his arguments in documents submitted Tuesday that his client should be released pending sentencing in the public corruption trial.

"As an additional relevant factor, it appears as if Mr. Kilpatrick has re-injured his knee very seriously," Thomas wrote in court documents. "His request for medical treatment over the past weeks at Milan Detention Center have not yet been met in any meaningful way."

Thomas said that the pain stems from an old football injury.

He also argued that his client is broke, and therefore could not flee if he was released, The Detroit News reported.

But the government has urged U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds to deny bond for Kilpatrick and the co-defendant, Bobby Ferguson, the Detroit Free Press said.

Both men have been in federal prison since March 11 when a jury convicted them of running a criminal enterprise out of the mayor's office.

Kilpatrick was found guilty of 24 charges and is facing up to 20 years or more in prison, the News said.