DETROIT – Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will not be released early because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced.
The bureau reviewed Kilpatrick’s request for home confinement on Tuesday, and it was denied, officials said.
Kilpatrick will remain incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution-I in Oakdale, Louisiana, according to authorities.
Local 4 spoke with some of Kilpatrick’s supporters, and they were shocked by the news. Last week, his family told their inner circle that they had been assured he would be released.
This decision is in response to Kilpatrick’s request for an early release because of COVID-19. A consortium of politicians, pastors and business leaders appealed to President Donald Trump in February to commute Kilpatrick’s sentence. So far, no word has come from the White House.
U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider had no comment about the decision at this time.
Family pushed for early release
Last week, family members said Kilpatrick had been put in a 21-day quarantine at the Oakdale Federal Detention Center. They said they believed he would be released June 10.
Those in Kilpatrick’s inner circle believed he would get out to begin home confinement, likely at his sister’s home in Atlanta.
Federal prisoners, including Paul Manafort, have been getting out on home confinement as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In emails exchanged since the beginning of April, Kilpatrick’s inner circle has been lobbying the Department of Justice to release him, citing his asthma and pre-diabetes.
In addition, his family claimed he’d been exposed to an inmate who died of COVID-19.
On Friday morning, an email was sent from the Ebony Foundation congratulating Kilpatrick on his early release. The email was problematic because it didn’t cite a source or information about why they believe that to be true.
Despite his family’s claims, the official word from the Department of Justice remained that Kilpatrick was still incarcerated.
His appellate lawyer maintained he had heard nothing but that it would not have been out of the ordinary for Kilpatrick to get an early release.