(WWJ) -- A former contractor and friend of ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been released from prison on compassionate grounds, according to court documents filed on Thursday.
Bobby Ferguson was convicted back in 2013 on public corruption charges and sentenced to 21 years in prison for racketeering, extortion and fraud. Prosecutors said Kilpatrick steered building contracts to Ferguson during his time as mayor and the two shared the profits. The pair extorted tens of millions of dollars during their scheme, prosecutors said.
Ferguson served more than seven years of his sentence in Lisbon, Ohio, before Thursday's motion was granted.
Kilpatrick had his 28-year sentence commuted by former President Donald Trump earlier this year. The ex-mayor had been found guilty of bribery, racketeering, extortion and fraud and began his lengthy sentence in 2013.
Lawyers had argued for years that the 21-year sentence Ferguson received was too strict, and on Thursday his battle was won.
The motion for Ferguson's release reads in part, "not only has Defendant served a slightly longer term of imprisonment than a more culpable co-defendant, but his motion comes during an unprecedented global pandemic and Defendant has an increased vulnerability to the virus."
Ferguson will still be ordered to pay more than $6 million in restitution to the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department.
