After jurors in a federal corruption trial found Kwame Kilpatrick guilty of a long list of charges, the former Detroit mayor and co-defendant Bobby Ferguson were denied bond and immediately detained Monday afternoon, according to the Detroit News.
The two head directly to prison after a trial that stretched over several months.
WXYZ-TV reports Judge Nancy Edmunds said it was "a close call" after hearing arguments from the prosecution and Ferguson and Kilpatrick's lawyers.
The prosecution argued that Kilpatrick and Ferguson were both flight risks after a history of not following court orders.
All three men are facing serious penalties as the result of the jury's verdict. The gavel has fallen heaviest on the ex-mayor himself. Jurors found him guilty of 24 counts including racketeering, extortion, bribery, mail fraud and income tax evasion.
In addition to this, they found him not guilty on three charges and reached no verdict on another three. All this could total up to some serious prison time for Kilpatrick who is facing a maximum of 20 years on just the racketeering charge.
Kilpatrick's friend Bobby Ferguson has also been convicted with racketeering, bribery and several extortion charges, for a total of nine of the 11 charges levied against him.
Bernard Kilpatrick was found guilty on just one charge, false tax returns, which could land him three years in prison.
Kwame Kilpatrick was elected mayor of Detroit in 2001 at the age of 31. At time it seemed as though the youthful mayor had a promising political future ahead of him, but a scandal involving an affair sexually explicit text messages put an end to that.
He resigned in 2008, after pleading guilty to charges of obstructing justice, serving nearly a year in jail for the crimes.