DETROIT – Kwame Kilpatrick and his buddy Bobby Ferguson both are locked up awaiting sentencing and, according to court documents, if federal prosecutors get their way both men could be spending about 30 years in prison.
Read document: Sentencing memo for Kwame Kilpatrick
Read document: Bobby Ferguson pre-sentencing memo from prosecutors
"Three hundred and 60 months, that's a very high score to put somebody in, and they scored Bobby with public official status. So, Mr. Kilpatrick is going to already have that status. That's going to be a given," said legal expert Todd Flood.
In the documents, investigators say both men deserve stiff sentences. Kilpatrick, they say, abused his power as a public official and, in regards to Ferguson, they say, "Although Bobby Ferguson was not a public official, he worked hand-in-glove with Kwame Kilpatrick in a criminal partnership of enormous proportions. It was Ferguson, rather than Kilpatrick, who was the 'boots on the ground' of the extortion enterprise, directly making threats to local business people."
"They have put public corruption as an official toward Bobby because he acted with a public official," said Flood.
Also included in the documents is information about Kilpatrick's and Ferguson's previous run-ins with the law. The feds are laying out the case for more time, but in sentencing, like in the federal trial, it likely will be all about the money.