DETROIT (WWJ) - Federal officials seek to seize assets -- including unclaimed property and tax refunds -- of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to help pay off restitution the disgraced politician still owes to tax payers.
As reported by The Detroit News, U.S. District Court Clerk Drunetta Jennings filed a writ on Monday, March 11th, to continue garnishment in an effort to collect on a criminal restitution judgment on Kilpatrick exactly 11 years after he was convicted of using Detroit City Hall to run a "criminal enterprise" while accepting bribes and kickbacks totaling over $800,000 in 2013.
Kilpatrick's "jet setting lifestyle," as described by former Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gardey, captured media attention in recent months after his wife's consulting firm purchased a $807,000, 5,673-square-foot home in the area of Nine Mile and Beck Road in Novi and The Detroit News discovered the former mayor leased a 2023 Infiniti QX80 SUV last year worth roughly $90,000.
The monthly payment on the luxury vehicle is 10 times more than the monthly payment Kilpatrick made on his restitution debt last year, The Detroit News revealed.
The lavish spending comes under intense scrutiny as Kilpatrick was ordered to pay more than $1.7 million to taxpayers during his federal conviction on racketeering conspiracy and nearly two dozen other charges -- he still owes $164,434, court filings obtained by the News show.
Kilpatrick served eight years in federal prison on a 28-year sentence before he was commuted by then-President Donald Trump in January 2021.
Since leaving prison, public records revealed the former mayor's lavish spending -- and federal officials are now taking action.
“The United States Attorney’s office has filed a writ of garnishment against Mr. Kilpatrick as part of our continuing effort to enforce the criminal judgment of restitution he owes to the United States. Our efforts in this regard are unwavering,” U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said in a statement.
Back in 2022, prosecutors were trying to determine ways to force Kilpatrick to pay up, with WWJ Legal Analyst Charlie Langton stating Kilpatrick could ultimately end up back behind bars on a probation violation if he failed to do so.
A writ on garnishment against Kilpatrick was filed back then after it was discovered that he had been 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 was edited to remove some of those details before it was eventually canceled.
"Thus, instead of living modestly, with the goal of paying off his obligations, Kilpatrick appears ready and willing to resume his jet-setting lifestyle, with no intention of paying his debt owed to the tax payers stemming from his own tax evasion," Gardey wrote in a January 2023 filing.
While his sentence may have been commuted, Langton said the restitution part was not.
"Kwame Kilpatrick — until he pays off every penny of restitution, he's going to have to account for that. And the feds believe, based on what he's putting on social media, that he's raising money...and that probably will violate the terms of his probation at this time."
"The victim in the federal case was the City of Detroit, and the judge ordered Kwame Kilpatrick to pay back the victim in this case: the City of Detroit. So, whatever the number turns out to be, whatever income Kwame Kilpatrick has from whatever source, has to be totaled up and given back to the victim."
As for how much exactly Kilpatrick still owes Detroit taxpayers and the IRS, Wayne County Circuit Court records show he hasn't paid a cent toward the $854,062.60 that he still owes in restitution from a separate text-message scandal that led to his removal as mayor.
The IRS hit Kilpatrick with a $634,000 lien for unpaid taxes in July 2022 after they said he failed to pay up during most of his time in Detroit's highest public office.
He also owes nearly $400,000 on a civil penalty from a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit, the News reported, as well as a $7.5 million judgement to late minority contractor Willie McCormick's firm.