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Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan: Trump made 'right' decision to commute Kilpatrick's sentence

Posted at 8:30 AM, Jan 20, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-20 08:32:57-05

(WXYZ) — Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and others are reacting to the news that President Donald Trump commuted the sentence for former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Related: President Trump commutes sentence for former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

In a tweet, Duggan said that President Trump made the right decision to commute the 28-year sentence, of which Kilpatrick has served seven years so far.

Related: What is the difference between a pardon and a commutation?

"Kwame Kilpatrick is a person of great talent who still has much to contribute. I know how close he is to his three sons and I could not be happier for them being together again. This is a decision President Trump got right," Duggan tweeted.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Matthew Schneider released this statement:

“My position on the disgraced former Mayor of Detroit has not changed. Kwame Kilpatrick has earned every day he served in federal prison for the horrible crimes he committed against the People of Detroit. He is a notorious and unrepentant criminal. He remains convicted of 24 felonies. Kilpatrick has served only one quarter of the sentence that was very appropriately imposed. Thankfully, under Michigan law, he cannot hold state or local public office for 20 years after his conviction.”