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Presidential Clemency Record

Kwame M. Kilpatrick

Commutation

  /   2017–2021

Record at a Glance

Clemency type
Commutation
Presidential term
2017–2021
Federal district
Eastern District of Michigan
Offense
Racketeering conspiracy; interference with commerce by extortion (five counts); bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds; mail fraud (10 counts); wire fraud (two counts); subscribing false tax return (six counts)
Sentence
336 months' imprisonment; three years' supervised release; $4,799,826.61 restitution (October 10, 2013)
Current status
In a 2025 Bridge Michigan interview, Kilpatrick said he worked to elect Trump in 2024 and had been promised a pardon. No later full-pardon document accompanies that claim. A December 2025 local report described renewed federal efforts to collect the restitution that remained after Trump’s 2021 commutation.

Original Case

A federal jury returned a 24-count verdict on March 11, 2013 in E.D. Mich. No. 10-cr-20403-1. The verdict covered racketeering, extortion, bribery, fraud, and tax offenses arising from public-corruption conduct; the signed clemency warrant identifies the statutes of conviction. On October 10, 2013, Kilpatrick received 336 months' imprisonment, three years' supervised release, restitution, and a special assessment. The DOJ clemency table lists $4,799,826.61 restitution, while the signed warrant says $4,779,826.61; the discrepancy is preserved.

Clemency

January 13, 2021: commutation of the prison sentence to time served, not a pardon. The signed warrant expressly leaves the three-year supervised-release term, all conditions, $4,779,826.61 unpaid restitution balance, $2,400 special assessment, and other sentence components intact.

Trump Connection

Kilpatrick’s application reached Trump through a broad clemency campaign led by Detroit community and faith figures. The White House named Alveda King, Alice Johnson, Diamond and Silk, Pastor Paula White, Peter Karmanos, state Representatives Sherry Gay-Dagnogo and Karen Whitsett, and more than 30 faith leaders as supporters. It cited his prison teaching and Bible-study work when commuting his sentence. Kilpatrick later said he supported Trump’s 2024 campaign, but that later political activity was not part of the 2021 grant.

Since Clemency

  • 2025-04 · political development

    Kilpatrick said Trump promised him a pardon and described his own work supporting Trump’s 2024 campaign.

    Legal Status: Attributed claim about a promise; not proof of a bargain or a granted pardon.

  • 2025-12 · civil enforcement

    Federal prosecutors renewed collection efforts for outstanding restitution.

    Legal Status: Enforcement of an existing criminal financial obligation; not a new conviction.

Sources

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