Detroit Mayor Resigns and Enters Guilty Plea; Deal Calls for Four Months in Jail
Updated: Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has pleaded guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice for lying under oath and has agreed to resign from office.
Under the plea agreement revealed in a Detroit court today he will serve four months in jail, pay up to $1 million in restitution, surrender his law license and serve five years’ probation, the Detroit Free Press reports. He will not run for office during those five years.
He also pleaded no contest to assault stemming from charges he shoved a sheriff’s deputy trying to serve a subpoena, the Free Press reported. The deal calls for a four-month sentence that will run concurrently with the sentence in the obstruction case.
During the hearing Kilpatrick admitted that he lied under oath in a police whistle-blower case that resulted in an $8.4 million settlement. Members of the Detroit City Council say they were never told the settlement included a promise to keep text messages secret that would have revealed Kilpatrick’s affair with an aide and perjured testimony.
Sentencing is set for Oct. 28.
WXYZ carried today’s hearing live on its website. Wayne County Circuit Judge David Groner presided.
Kilpatrick’s wife, Carlita, was also in the courtroom, according to the Detroit News’ News Blog.
Asked if he understood that he was giving up the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, Kilpatrick told Groner, “I think I gave that up a long time ago, your honor.”
He also hesitated when Groner asked if he was satisfied with his lawyers in the case. “Uh, what do you mean?” Kilpatrick asked. After Groner repeated the question, Kilpatrick said he was satisfied.
The plea follows a day of hearings convened by Michigan’s governor to determine whether Kilpatrick should be removed from office. Kilpatrick had sought to stop the hearings with a lawsuit that contended Gov. Jennifer Granholm had prejudged the case and the law governing the hearings is vague.
Updated throughout the morning to include news from the live court hearing.
