The top federal prosecutor in southeast Michigan says ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick doesn't deserve a presidential pardon for his public corruption crimes — and that he'll tell President Donald Trump just that if asked for his opinion.

"So far, Mr. Kilpatrick has shown absolutely no remorse for his crimes. He denies any responsibility for the 24 federal felony offenses of which he was convicted, and he has served only one quarter of his sentence," U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider told the Free Press on Wednesday, one day after Trump granted clemency to 11 convicted criminals, including former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Kilpatrick, who is serving 28 years in prison for multiple public corruption crimes, has requested a commutation from the White House after losing all appeals. He has long argued that he was wrongfully convicted and railroaded by overzealous prosecutors.

The U.S. Attorney's Office adamantly disagrees, with Schneider pledging to fight to keep Kilpatrick locked up.

"My office is willing to provide any assistance to the Pardon Attorney to explain what really happened in Detroit under Mr. Kilpatrick’s watch, and why his conduct justified the sentence he received,” said Schneider, who called Kilpatrick's 28-year sentence "a fair and just punishment" for the "devastating impact" his crimes had on Detroit.

“As the elected mayor, he ran a criminal enterprise that corrupted wide swaths of city government in the early 2000s — at a time when city residents desperately needed honest and effective city services," Schneider said.

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Schneider replaced former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, who oversaw the 2013 prosecution of Kilpatrick and once told the Free Press that he could have had it worse.

McQuade noted that his sentencing guidelines called for life in prison, but prosecutors thought that was excessive and recommended 28 years instead.

Kilpatrick also was spared from a potentially more damaging trial, McQuade said, noting the government had a lot more evidence that jurors never heard about because prosecutors didn't want to overwhelm them.

"There were dozens and dozens of additional charges that could have been filed but weren't," McQuade said.

McQuade resigned in 2017 at the request of Trump. She was one of 46 President Barack Obama-era prosecutors who were asked to resign, which is common when the Oval Office changes parties.

Kilpatrick, meanwhile, is hoping Trump will grant him the relief that no court to date has given him. He appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear his case.

Kilpatrick's downfall started in 2008 after the Free Press published text messages that showed Kilpatrick lied during a police whistleblower trial when he denied having an affair with his chief of staff and gave misleading testimony about the firing of a deputy police chief.

The Free Press report triggered criminal charges that ended his political career and put him behind bars. A federal prosecution followed years later and ended with a jury convicting Kilpatrick of running a criminal enterprise out of the mayor's office to enrich himself and his friends.

Kilpatrick, 49, is not eligible to be released until 2037. He will be 67 years old.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com