DETROIT — Federal prosecutors opened an investigation Thursday in an effort to force former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to pay restitution to taxpayers amid questions about whether he had started paying $1.7 million debt to the city and Internal Revenue Service.
The move comes 18 months after then-President Donald Trump commuted Kilpatrick's 28-year sentence for orchestrating a racketeering conspiracy out of Detroit City Hall. Kilpatrick's conduct since being freed has raised questions about his rehabilitation, finances and whether he had started paying restitution stemming from his federal conviction and assorted crimes.
Kilpatrick, 52, has generated attention in recent weeks, asking the public to donate money so he can buy a home in Florida and selling copies of his new book for $19.99 yet has not made a payment in nine years toward the more than $800,000 in restitution he owes Detroit taxpayers.
