Kilpatrick's Federal Case Moves Along Slowly
It may be mid to late 2011 before former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick goes to trial on federal fraud and tax charges.
WWJ's Marie Osborne reports Kilpatrick's attorney, Jim Thomas, Tuesday told U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Edmunds he's received tens-of-thousands of pages of documents from prosecutors.
Kilpatrick is facing 19 charges, including taking money from a civic fund and using it for personal use.
Thomas wouldn't give any specifics about the case, but said he's not intimidated.
Both sides approved of the next hearing date set for January 10th, but other events may move that date further into 2011.
An indictment unveiled in June accuses Kilpatrick, 40, of creating the Civic Fund in 1999 and gaining tax-exempt status after declaring that it would be a social-welfare organization to enhance neighborhoods, help youth and improve Detroit's image.
The government, however, said the goal seemed to be to enrich Kilpatrick. He is charged with failing to report at least $640,000 in taxable income between 2003 and 2008, the value of the cash, private jet flights and personal expenses paid by the fund.
Kilpatrick used the fund to pay for yoga and golf, camp for his kids, travel, moving expenses to Texas, a crisis manager, cars, polling, political consulting and much more, including "counter-surveillance and anti-bugging equipment," according to the indictment.
The indictment said donors were fooled into believing their money would be going to other legal purposes.
© MMX WWJ Radio, All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to his report.
