Government wants Kilpatrick to pay $4.5 million

DETROIT -- The federal government wants former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to forfeit $4.5 million for all the lucrative contracts he steered to longtime contractor friend Bobby Ferguson.

It's a conservative forfeiture amount, the government argued in court documents Thursday, noting Kilpatrick could get hit with a higher tab given all the crooked contracts that were raised during the six-month-long public corruption trial. Prosecutors had previously argued that Kilpatrick and Ferguson pocketed $9.6 million in ill-gotten gains through water and sewer contracts. But in determining Kilpatrick's sentence, U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds determined that Kilpatrick should be held responsible for $4.5 million.

"The government believes this amount constitutes a very reasonable estimate of proceeds obtained as a result of Kilpatrick's RICO violation," prosecutor's wrote in today's filing in U.S. District Court.

Kilpatrick was sentenced last month to 28 years in prison after a federal jury convicted him in March on 24 counts that included racketeering conspiracy, bribery, extortion and fraud. With good behavior, Kilpatrick, 43, can be out of prison in 23 years. There is no possibility of parole, but he could earn credit for good behavior.

During the six-month trial, the government argued that Kilpatrick helped steer lucrative water and sewer contracts to Ferguson, who scored roughly $127 million in city contracts while his friend was mayor. Of that, more than $70 million worth of deals were obtained illegally, the government said.

Ferguson was sentenced to 21 years in prison.

Kilpatrick and Ferguson are appealing their convictions.

Both men were targets of a a massive public corruption investigation that spanned a decade and resulted in convictions against 33 other people, including Kilpatrick's father, Bernard Kilpatrick, 72, who got a 15-month prison sentence for a tax violation.

A fourth defendant in the case, former water department director Victor Mercado, cut a deal in the middle of trial and awaits sentencing. So does Derrick Miller, Kilpatrick's one-time right hand man who also cut a deal and testified against his former boss at trial. Miller, who faces sentencing on Dec. 2 for bribery, faces up to 10 years in prison, though prosecutors have said they would recommend a lighter sentence due to his cooperation.