Prosecutor: Former Detroit mayor Kilpatrick a 'career criminal'

Detroit ? Kwame Kilpatrick was good at his job ? when he stole from the citizens who elected him, first as a state legislator and then as Detroit mayor, a federal prosecutor said Monday during closing arguments in the public corruption trial.

An annual salary of $160,000, a rent-free waterfront mansion, free transportation and bodyguards weren't enough for Kilpatrick, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bullotta said as he tied together five months of testimony in the case against Kilpatrick, his father Bernard and contractor Bobby Ferguson.

Instead, the three ran a so-called criminal enterprise designed to squeeze millions of dollars from the mayor's political power, Bullotta said.

"Our democracy depends on our elected officials representing us and our needs, and not coming into office and turning it into a personal business," Bullotta continued. "What Kwame Kilpatrick did in this case, in partnership with Bobby Ferguson and Bernard Kilpatrick, is they turned the mayor's office into Kilpatrick Incorporated, a private profit machine."

As Bullotta finished, a picture was flashed on a video screen behind him: Stacks of $50 and $100 bills stuffed in a Ferguson safe and a list of cash deposits into Kilpatrick's bank account. For Bullotta, the link was clear ? Kilpatrick helped Ferguson get contracts and Ferguson gave Kilpatrick cash.

"(Kilpatrick) took an oath to the citizens of Detroit, and he shattered that oath," Bullotta said.

Ferguson and the Kilpatricks have been charged with extortion, bribery and running a criminal racket, along with other counts, in a public corruption case that was first investigated a decade ago. They face as many as 20 years in prison if convicted.

Defense attorneys will get the opportunity today and Thursday to rebut charges. James C. Thomas, Kwame Kilpatrick's attorney, will present his closing argument this morning, followed by John Shea, the attorney for Bernard Kilpatrick. Bobby Ferguson's attorney, Gerald Evelyn, will present his arguments on Thursday after a one-day recess Wednesday. None would comment on their upcoming courtroom statements.

Throughout the trial, Kilpatrick's attorney said his client got his cash from other sources, including gifts, and Ferguson's attorneys painted him as a tough but legitimate contractor.

But on Monday, Bullotta held the stage alone. Weaving text messages, testimony, audio and videotapes into his presentation, Bullotta described Kwame Kilpatrick as a career criminal, a politician more determined to line his pockets than fix streets and fight crime. And working side-by-side with him were his father and Ferguson, the prosecutor said.

Bullotta spent 90 minutes summarizing testimony of more than 80 witnesses and hundreds of pieces of evidence. He narrowed his focus on paperwork he said was faked by Ferguson to hide crimes and text messages exchanged by the defendants, none of whom testified.

As the prosecutor started, four words appeared on the video screen: "No deal without me." They were a snippet of a Ferguson text message and became Bullotta's recurring theme as he detailed 10 contracts that were approved only after Ferguson became involved.

"That tells you almost everything you need to know about this case," Bullotta said. "If you wanted a city contract, you had to pay. If you didn't pay, you didn't get a contract, and if you had a contract, it got canceled."

Totaling up the value of all of the tainted contracts, Bullotta labeled Bobby Ferguson "the $83.8 million man."

The losers weren't just the other contractors who didn't get the contracts, Bullotta said, but taxpayers and Detroit's water and sewer customers. Ferguson got one contract despite having a price nearly 50 percent higher than the low bidder, and a pair of water contracts cost ratepayers at least $1.6 million more, Bullotta said, because the winning teams ? with Ferguson ? weren't the lowest bidder.

Yet the conspiracy only worked if Kwame Kilpatrick shared in its largesse, Bullotta said, arguing the mayor spent more than $800,000 more than he was paid during his mayoral tenure.

He dismissed a suggestion that Kilpatrick had money before he was mayor, pointing out there were no cash deposits in his accounts in 2001. But after becoming mayor, he routinely paid his credit card bill with cash and made hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash deposits into his bank accounts.

Bullotta spent no time talking about the tax charges against the former mayor and his father, and only a little time talking about Bernard Kilpatrick. But the prosecutor impressed on jurors that the elder Kilpatrick was an integral part of the conspiracy, pressuring clients and having an open pipeline to City Hall as he allegedly pocketed payoffs from Synagro Technologies executive James Rosendall, who was pursuing a sludge-hauling deal with the city.

Bullotta urged jurors to disregard defense claims that Bernard Kilpatrick was a legitimate consultant. "Bernard Kilpatrick was no consultant," Bullotta said. "He was an extorter."

Bullotta's main focus Monday, was on the former mayor.

"(Kilpatrick) thought the rules did not apply to him, he thought that he was somehow above the law. But with your verdict, ladies and gentlemen, you can confirm that nobody, least of all a public official with an oath to the people, is above the law."

mwilkinson@detroitnews.com

(313) 222-2563

Source: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130212/METRO/302120343/1408/LOCAL

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