DETROIT (WWJ) - The Internal Revenue Service is going after assets obtained by former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick after the federal government says he owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid income taxes stemming from his time in office.
WWJ's legal analyst Charlie Langton said public records obtained by The Detroit News showed the IRS filed a lien in Georgia five months ago in the first step at attempting to collect tax debt. According to the lien, Kilpatrick, 52, did not pay income taxes from 2003 to 2008, spanning his time as Mayor of Detroit.
"At least he didn't pay enough and he didn't pay $634,000 in problems," Langton said.
Kilpatrick moved to the South in 2021 to launch a ministry after he had his lengthy prison sentence commuted by former President Donald Trump.
"However, in that order, the ex-mayor's obligation to pay taxes or even restitution for that matter, which is a different issue, was not relieved.... Kilpatrick owes $634,000 of unpaid taxes and the IRS now going after his assets, which they can do, including any property he may own in the state of Georgia where he now lives," Langton added.
At this time, it remains unclear if the ex-Mayor has been making payments on the amount owed or if he is negotiating with the IRS. According to The Detroit News, Kilpatrick did not return a request for comment on Wednesday.
When asked if Kilpatrick could pay off such a hefty bill, Langton relied, "no, he probably can't pay it."
"Those tax obligations, you can't get rid of them and bankruptcy, they stay with you forever and anytime he would get any kind of income, including sales of a book or maybe speaking arrangements or any type of income, the IRS will take a took at it," Langton told WWJ's Jonathan Carlson. "By the way, he still has to file tax returns for whatever income he's got and believe me the IRS will be looking at that very closely."
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The sum of unpaid taxes is yet another setback in Kilpatrick's infamous legal troubles. Back in July, prosecutors were then trying to determine ways to force Kilpatrick to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution that was a part of his sentencing in a racketeering case nine years ago.
The Detroit News said federal court officials have refused their requests to reveal what, if anything, Kilpatrick has paid toward his restitution, which was set at nearly $1.7 million.
At the same time, IRS officials filed the lien in federal court and documents added to the public record last week revealed Kilpatrick had paid roughly $2,100 toward the tax debt since being released from prison.
Kilpatrick had generated attention over the summer for asking the public to donate money so he and his wife can buy a house in Florida and selling copies of his new book for $19.99. The couple asked for donations in increments up to $8,000, according to Deadline Detroit, with the overall fundraising goal for the home was $800,000.
The Kilpatricks' fundraising post on plumfund.com has since been edited to remove some of those details.
Langton said Kilpatrick could ultimately end up back behind bars on a probation violation if he fails to pay up.
The IRS lien is only adding to Kilpatrick's mounting debt, totaling $11.5 million, the Detroit News reports. The ex-Mayor also owes more than $854,000 in restitution to the City of Detroit, which according to Wayne County Circuit Court, Kilpatrick's last payment on that debt was back in February 2013.
Kilpatrick served only seven years of a 28-year sentence on racketeering, extortion, bribery and other charges related to various crimes during his time as mayor from 2002-2008.