Judge Won't Delay Kilpatrick Corruption Trial
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - Saying the public needs closure, a federal judge is refusing to delay the September corruption trial of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his father.
Bernard Kilpatrick's attorney, John Shea, asked Monday that the trial be pushed to 2013. He says the case is complicated - an "animal" that he's never encountered before. But Judge Nancy Edmunds says she's sticking with September.
Edmunds said the defense has had adequate time to prepare.
The indictment describes a brazen pay-to-play scheme in which the Kilpatricks took kickbacks and bribes to steer city business to certain contractors, especially pal Bobby Ferguson. Prosecutors call it the "Kilpatrick enterprise."
Ferguson is also a defendant, along with former Detroit water boss Victor Mercado. All have pleaded not guilty.
Kwame Kilpatrick quit city hall in fall 2008 and now lives with his family in the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie, Texas. He has been making payments toward the more than $850,000 in restitution he owes Detroit from a 2008 plea in a separate criminal case.
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