Kilpatrick was originally sentenced to 28 years in federal prison for a racketeering scandal that destroyed his political career and took him out of office. Ferguson got 22 years for his part in it, while others got lesser sentences. He had appealed before but did not win.
They were convicted of running a criminal enterprise from the mayor’s office in Detroit through corrupted contracts, steering city contracts toward Ferguson, and intimidating other contractors. His defense at the time argued that Ferguson’s business was honest and Kilpatrick had nothing to do with the awarding of contracts.
Kilpatrick served seven years before his sentence was commuted. That came after a lengthy campaign to get him freed from many in Detroit who felt his sentence was too harsh.