Topic: Kwame Kilpatrick

Kwame Malik Kilpatrick (born June 8, 1970) is a former mayor of Detroit, Michigan. He is a member of the Democratic Party and co-author of Surrendered! The Rise, Fall and Revelation of Kwame Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick's mayorship was plagued by numerous scandals and rampant accusations of corruption, with the mayor eventually resigning after being charged with ten felony counts, including perjury and obstruction of justice. Kilpatrick was sentenced to four months in jail after pleading guilty to reduced charges, but with good time awarded to county jail inmates in Michigan, he was released on probation after serving 99 days. On May 25, 2010, he was sentenced to 18 months to 5 years in prison for violating his probation. He served time at the Federal Correctional Institution, Milan. After he was indicted in federal court for additional crimes related to alleged misuse of his campaign funds, Kilpatrick lobbied for a transfer from the Oaks Correctional Facility (Michigan Department of Corrections) in Manistee Township, Michigan. He is also under a new 38-charge felony indictment on additional corruption charges, in what a federal prosecutor called a "pattern of extortion, bribery and fraud" by some of Detroit's most prominent officials.

Kilpatrick attended Detroit's Cass Technical High School. Kilpatrick then graduated with honors from Florida A&M University (FAMU). Kilpatrick became of a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity while a student at FAMU.

His mother, former Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, represented Michigan's 13th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, but was not re-elected to office because she lost her primary election on August 3, 2010 to Michigan State Senator Hansen Clarke. NPR and CBS News both noted that throughout her re-election campaign, she was dogged by questions about Kwame Kilpatrick. Michigan Live reported that her election defeat could in part be attributed to the Kwame Kilpatrick scandals. Kilpatrick's father, Bernard Kilpatrick, served as Chief of Staff to former Wayne County Executive Edward H. McNamara and currently operates a consulting firm called Maestro Associates of Detroit.