Ex-Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick _ already in prison _ indicted on federal fraud and tax charges

Ex-Detroit mayor in trouble with the law _ again

DETROIT — Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, already in prison for probation violations, was indicted Wednesday on federal fraud and tax charges, accused of a turning a charity into a personal slush fund for cash, travel, yoga, summer camp and even anti-bugging equipment.

The indictment was the latest blow for Kilpatrick, who in May was sent to state prison for at least 14 months for violating probation in a 2008 criminal case tied to sexually explicit text messages and an affair with a top aide.

The indictment said Kilpatrick, 40, created the Civic Fund in 1999 and gained tax-exempt status after declaring 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. It did not provide details about the equipment.

Adolph Mongo, a political consultant to Kilpatrick in 2005, told The Associated Press on Wednesday he was paid out of the Civic Fund. Mongo said the fund was tapped “like an ATM.”

The indictment said donors were fooled into believing their money would be going to other legal purposes.

“It is important that public officials not escape prosecution just because they leave office,” U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said in a statement. “Public officials need to be held accountable to deter them and others from cheating our citizens in the future.”

Kilpatrick’s lawyer, James Thomas, said he talked to the former mayor about the indictment.

“Just because the government brings a tax case doesn’t mean they’ll be successful,” Thomas said. “We have a different view than the government. We’ll be ready.”

Kilpatrick spokesman Mike Paul said his family was aware the indictment was coming. He put a positive spin on it, noting that the former mayor was not charged with public corruption after a yearslong investigation at city hall that has netted ex-councilwoman Monica Conyers and many others.

“This investigation puts an end to the ridiculous rumors that the mayor was personally involved with corruption, payoffs and bribes,” Paul said. “It is important to understand the Civic Fund is a non-political, nonprofit organization, which the mayor never ran day-to-day. We will have more on the Civic Fund in the near future.”

McQuade, however, said no one should believe the indictment brings the curtain down.

“The investigation is continuing. If we find additional charges that we can prove they will be brought,” she told The Associated Press without elaborating.

Kilpatrick’s mother, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., said she was “devastated” by the charges.

“As a mother, I hope for the best for my son and will always be there for him. Beyond that, I have no further comment,” she said.

In May, Kilpatrick was sentenced to up to five years in state prison for violating probation in the criminal case that forced him out of office in September 2008. Kilpatrick was ordered to pay $1 million in restitution to Detroit for lying in a civil lawsuit that cost the city $8.4 million.

A judge said Kilpatrick flunked probation by failing to turn over money to whittle his restitution and disclose certain assets.

With his custom suits, cufflinks and shirts personalized with “Mayor” on the sleeve, Kilpatrick has been accustomed to the high life, even after moving to Texas in 2009. His family settled in Southlake, an affluent Dallas suburb, in a leased 5,800-square-foot house larger than Detroit’s mayoral mansion.

Wayne State University law professor and former federal prosecutor Peter Henning called the indictment a “garden variety fraud case” that is easier to present to a jury than a shadowy corruption scheme.

“You don’t depend on bad guys ratting out other bad guys,” Henning said. “You bring in documents. You follow the money. You put it in his pocket, and you then get some donors to come in and testify.”

The 13 fraud charges each carry a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison. Judges, however, mostly order concurrent sentences, which means Kilpatrick would not serve the rest of his life behind bars if convicted.

Associated Press Writer Corey Williams contributed to this report.