Former Mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick has violated the terms of his probation. Part of his probation was that he was required to make restitution payments from earlier court cases, and he failed to make sufficient payments. The sentence for violating his parole was five years, of which he must serve at least eighteen months. His time in and out of office was mired in controversy.
Kwame Kilpatrick sentenced to five years
Kwame Kilpatrick pled guilty to obstruction of justice in 2008, for which he served 99 days. He was ordered to repay $ 1 million to the City of Detroit for the offenses. After he failed to make sufficient payments on time, a warrant was issued for his arrest by Judge David Groner. It was revealed Kilpatrick had hidden assets, including real estate and several cars. He said he was oblivious as to who had paid for them, according to the New York Times. Even if he had a high priced attorney on retainer using a personal loan to get one, it wasn’t sufficient.
What brought him down
It would make Rod Blagojevich proud to see the scandal that brought Kwame Kilpatrick down. He used city property in sending lascivious text messages to his chief of staff, Christine Beatty, as the two were involved in an extramarital affair. To keep two police officers from uncovering the affair during a 2007 investigation, he fired them both. He was sued, and in the course of the trial committed perjury. He settled for $ 8.4 million and was then indicted on eight felony counts including perjury and obstruction of justice. He pleaded guilty to the latter, serving 99 days, stepped down as mayor and was ordered to pay the city $ 1 million, which he failed to do.
Violation of Parole
Kwame Kilpatrick latest news item is that he failed to make that restitution. Judge Groner was not convinced Kilpatrick had made sufficient effort to repay those obligations. Kilpatrick pleaded with the judge, but to no avail. Kilpatrick is instead going to prison for at least 18 months.
Citations
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/us/26detroit.html?hp
