*Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is facing up to 20 years in prison after he was convicted Monday of most of the federal charges against him in his public corruption case, including racketeering, extortion and filing false tax returns.
Kilpatrick is accused of running a criminal enterprise through the mayor’s office to enrich himself through bid-rigging and extortion, and using nonprofit funds for personal gain.
After 14 full days of deliberation, the jury reached a unanimous decision on 40 of 45 counts against Kilpatrick and Bobby Ferguson. No verdict was reached on the charges of racketeering against Bernard Kilpatrick.
Breaking with typical protocol, the verdict was not read by the jury foreperson. Instead, Judge Nancy Edmunds read the verdicts herself.
The panel of eight women and four men deliberated for close to 100 hours before finally reaching their decisions. The verdict was reached on Friday. The jury decided to go home and sleep on it over the weekend to see if anyone would change his or her mind by Monday morning.
The prosecution wants Kwame Kilpatrick and Ferguson in custody immediately. The judge will decide that during a 1:30 p.m. meeting. The prosecution believes they are flight risks.
