Detroit City Council Member Feels Conyers' Sentence "Should Have Been Longer"

The following is a statement by Detroit City Council Member Kwame Kenyatta:

The sentencing of former Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers along with the sentencing of other key aides of the former Kilpatrick administration, former Conyers employee Sam Riddle and the sentencing of Rayford Jackson reads like the introduction to a book that has yet to be read. 

I believe that the judge was too lenient in his sentencing of Monica Conyers in light of the significance of her role as an elected official who ultimately served as President of City Council who was first in line to be mayor.  She was much more prominent than a consultant, contractor or aide. 

Furthermore, Monica Conyers was the second highest vote getter on Detroit City Council.  Within this important position she violated the trust of the people and betrayed their confidence in the oath that she took. 

She also put her fellow colleagues on Council who elected her to serve on the pension board, which gave her financial oversight of retirees’ savings and investments, in an untenable position.

With this in mind, I believe that the message sent through the sentence should and could have been stronger.

Kwame Kenyatta

Council Member