Bobby Ferguson, who was sentenced to a 21-year prison term was released after only serving just eight years.
DETROIT - The contractor who went to federal prison for helping former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick create a criminal enterprise years ago was just released by a judge.
Bobby Ferguson, who was sentenced to a 21-year prison term was released after only serving just eight years.
He was let out on compassionate grounds by a federal judge only three months after Kilpatrick had his 28-year prison sentence commuted by former President Donald Trump.
Ferguson, 52 was sentenced in 2013 after a six-month trial where he was convicted of nine financial crimes, including racketeering, bribery, and extortion. Testimony during the trial revealed he stole tens of millions of dollars.
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Bobby Ferguson, associate of Kwame Kilpatrick, gets early release
A close friend of Kwame Kilpatrick, Bobby Ferguson, was granted a compassionate after serving three months of a 28-year prison sentence by a federal judge.
In an opinion written by Judge Nancy G. Edmunds, she wrote that Ferguson faces a much longer period of incarceration than a "more culpable co-defendant" - referring to Kilpatrick.
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"More specifically, Defendant was not an elected official and had been charged with and convicted of a substantially smaller number of charges. The Court therefore concluded that Defendant deserved a shorter sentence than Mr. Kilpatrick and ultimately sentenced Defendant to a term of imprisonment 75% as long as Mr. Kilpatrick’s sentence."
Like the former mayor, Ferguson still owes millions of dollars in restitution. The former contractor will be required to pay the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department $6,284,000 that he'll pay back in $900 sums.
The US Attorney's office declined to provide a comment.
Edmunds also wrote that Ferguson hasn't received any disciplinary tickets, has been employed within the prison system, and has completed almost 400 hours of classes and workshops. He's also served as a mentor to other inmates.
"He was a single-minded crony of the mayor’s, whose only apparent goal was to enrich himself at others’ expense. He achieved that goal through threats and intimidation, primarily focused on the business expectations of his targets. But he was not the driver of the bus; that was Mr. Kilpatrick, where the power resided."
Read the judge's full opinion below: