DETROIT – Jurors in a city buffeted by financial crisis convicted former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on corruption charges Monday, capping a five-month trial that exposed a brazen pay-to-play culture during his years in office while the distressed city lost jobs and people and veered toward insolvency.
Kilpatrick could face more than 10 years in prison for two dozen convictions, from racketeering conspiracy to bribery to tax crimes. Once hailed as a hip, young big-city leader, he was portrayed at trial as an unscrupulous politician who took kickbacks, rigged contracts and lived far beyond his means.
“Kwame Kilpatrick didn’t lead the city. He looted the city,” U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said in victory.
At the government’s urging, Kilpatrick, 42, was ordered to jail to await his sentence, along with Bobby Ferguson, a city contractor who benefited from having a pal as mayor and also was convicted.
13 hurt in shooting outside DC apartment
Thirteen people were injured, including one critically, when gunmen in a speeding car opened fire on a crowd standing outside an apartment building in northwest Washington early Monday, police said.
The shooting occurred about 2:10 a.m. in the area of New York Avenue and North Capitol Street, police Chief Cathy Lanier said.
Detectives were reviewing surveillance video showing gunshots being fired as two cars sped down the street in rapid succession, while a group of people on the sidewalk scattered and scrambled for cover.
Committee backs call to lower new medal ranking
The leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee have added their names to the growing list of lawmakers asking the Pentagon to lower the ranking of a new medal for cyber fighters.
The proposed Distinguished Warfare Medal would rank ahead of the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
Sen. Carl Levin, the committee’s Democratic chairman, and Sen. Jim Inhofe, the committee’s top Republican, asked Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to reflect on his combat experience in Vietnam. In a letter, they said they were concerned about the message the medal’s ranking sends to those who served in harm’s way.
The new medal is a sign of the changing nature of war and would honor drone pilots and others who use their technological skills to gather intelligence and kill enemy fighters.
3 crew members die in Washington aircraft crash
An aircraft from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island crashed in eastern Washington on Monday morning, and all three crew members on board died, Navy authorities said.
The E/A-6B Prowler was reported to have crashed about 8:45 a.m. Monday, Whidbey Island officials said.
The Navy informed Congress that the wingman of the crashed plane reported that no parachutes were deployed. The identities of the crew were not immediately available.
Police seek man accused of killing grandparents
Authorities are searching the Northwest for a man accused of killing his Seattle-area grandparents, who had just picked him up after his release from a Washington state prison, hosted a party in his honor and offered him a room in their home for the night.
Michael “Chad” Boysen, 26, is considered extremely dangerous and has tried to obtain guns, police said Monday.
He was released from prison Friday after serving several years for robbery. His grandparents – an 82-year-old man and 80-year-old woman – picked him up from prison and hosted a family “welcome home party” for him that night, King County Sheriff John Urquhart said.
“I can’t stress how dangerous this guy is,” Urquhart said Monday at a news conference. The sheriff said Boysen had made threats against family members and law enforcement officials, but he did not elaborate.
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Venezuelans laud Chavez choice for successor
Thousands of cheering, crying admirers accompanied President Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor Monday as he registered to be a candidate to replace the dead leader, while forcing the main opposition candidate to delay his entry into the race.
The massive crowd thronged acting President Nicolas Maduro and blocked opposition candidate Henrique Capriles from registering for the April 14 vote by the 2 p.m. deadline. The Capriles campaign, which had asked for an extension, said in a statement that he would be registering later Monday afternoon.
Maduro also announced a change in Chavez’s final resting place Monday. Last week, Maduro had said the body would be embalmed and perpetually displayed in the country’s military museum.
