(WXYZ) — In two separate orders, US District Judge Nandy Edmunds has denied motions by Kwame Kilpatrick and Bobby Ferguson to terminate their supervised release.
Both Kilpatrick and Ferguson, who were convicted of corruption related to Kilpatrick's time in office as Mayor of Detroit, became eligible for termination of their relief one year after they were released from prison.
Kilpatrick was released when he was granted clemency by former President Donald Trump on January 13, 2021. Ferguson was granted compassionate relief and his jail sentence was changed to time served in April 2021.
However, both men were still required to remain under supervised release and pay the restitution they were originally sentenced to.
In her orders, Edmunds wrote that neither man "has not identified any new or unforeseen circumstances that would warrant early termination of supervised release" and that for both men "by continuing Defendant’s supervised release, the Court will ensure that Defendant will remain under supervision during continuing efforts to collect the restitution owed in this case."
However, in her order denying Kilpatrick's motion, Edmunds went further, writing:
Moreover, Defendant’s own recent statements to the media belie the assertion that he “unequivocally accepts responsibility for his criminal conduct.” For example, during an interview on the Today show, Defendant admitted committing perjury and lying about his extramarital affair but flatly denied committing the twenty-four federal crimes of which he was found guilty. Such statements undermine society’s faith in our criminal justice system and do not show an acceptance of responsibility. In sum, the Court finds that the relevant sentencing factors, as a whole, weigh against early termination of supervised release.
