Emails to parole officer show Kilpatrick's plea for mercy

By M.L. Elrick
FOX 2 Investigative Reporter

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WJBK) -- You may remember Kwame Kilpatrick getting money from a Chicago preacher, not reporting it, then going back to jail.  What you haven't seen are the former mayor's emails to his parole officer.  Those emails show that Kilpatrick desperately wanted to avoid a trip back behind bars.

Kilpatrick picked up $2,000 last December at a Walmart in Chesterfield Township.  He didn't report that dough.  State officials say that was a no-no, a violation of his parole.

Kilpatrick told me these transactions weren't a problem, but emails show that before long he became plenty worried.

In a January 14 email, one of dozens we got through Michigan's Freedom of Information Act, Kilpatrick wrote, "I am working hard to show that I am a better person.  My family and my freedom are of the utmost importance to me."

By then, parole agents had told him he was under virtual house arrest at his mother's place.

On January 17, he wrote to officials that it was wrong to separate a man from his wife and children.

Kilpatrick's family lives in a palatial home outside Dallas, Texas.  He wrote, "I am really struggling with the decision of intentionally separating a husband from his wife, and a father from his children.  I know that this communication may appear to be written for only personal reasons.  I assure you it's not."

The former mayor went on to argue that keeping families together is the best way to fight crime.

"I am humbly sending this missive in hopes that you will at least try to do all that you can do to promote family."

The records also show that parole officials pressed Kilpatrick for information on the proceeds of his memoir.  Even though his sister, Ayanna, was involved in the deal, Kilpatrick claims he has no knowledge of the book deal or whether any books sold.

The records also show that while Kilpatrick claimed he had no idea he was required to report gifts, in at least three months last year his listing of income notes "no gifts received".

Other emails reveal that Kilpatrick sought permission to join his family for the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, but that request was denied.

In fact, Kilpatrick spent the following weekend in prison as part of a deal to resolve 14 parole violations stemming from his failure to disclose the cash gifts Fox 2 uncovered.

Speaking of those cash gifts, Kilpatrick wrote that he snagged one from the Walmart in  Chesterfield Township because there are no Walmart stores in Detroit.

That Chesterfield Township Walmart is 30 miles away from his mother's house.  Somehow he must have missed the one in Dearborn that's less than ten miles away.