Obama to visit prison housing ex-Detroit mayor

by Jordan Fabian - 07/15/15 9:46 AM ET

President Obama on Thursday will visit the federal prison that houses ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, a former political ally who was convicted of corruption.

Obama is traveling to the El Reno Correctional Facility outside Oklahoma City as part of his push to overhaul the nation’s criminal-justice system. He plans to meet with inmates, prison staff and law enforcement officials and also participate in a “Vice” documentary on the U.S. prison system.

Kilpatrick is serving a 28-year sentence at the medium-security facility for racketeering, mail fraud and wire fraud. The convictions stem from a corruption scandal that forced him to resign in 2008.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz told The Detroit News he does not “expect any interaction with the former mayor.”

In 2007, Obama appeared with Kilpatrick at a campaign event in Detroit during his first campaign for president, before the corruption allegations against him were known.

The Obama campaign later called on the mayor, who is the son of former Rep. Caroyln Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Mich.), to resign in 2008.

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