Detroit Mayor Pleads Guilty, Agrees to Resign

By SUSAN SAULNY

DETROIT — Kwame M. Kilpatrick, the charismatic mayor of Detroit who has been embroiled in legal problems stemming from a sex scandal since the beginning of the year, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and agreed to resign Thursday morning as part of a deal with prosecutors.

He agreed to plead guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice and to plead no contest to a felony count of assault on a police officer; to pay restitution to the city of $1 million; to surrender his law license, forfeit his state pension and be barred from elective office for five years; and to serve 120 days in the Wayne County jail, followed by five years’ probation. The other charges were dismissed, and the judge scheduled a formal sentencing hearing for Oct. 28.

Mr. Kilpatrick “understands fully the agreement and agrees to be bound by it, judge,” a lawyer for Mr. Kilpatrick, Gerald Evelyn, told Wayne County Circuit Court Judge David A. Groner.

Judge Groner asked Mr. Kilpatrick, “Is this something you are ready to do today?” He added, “Do you have any questions?”

“I have no questions about what’s going on today,” Mr. Kilpatrick responded. Later, referring to his guilty plea, he said, “I lied under oath.”

Detroit Mayor Pleads Guilty, Agrees to Resign....

DETROIT MAYOR CAUGHT FLIRTING VIA TEXT MESSAGE

Detroit mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick and his chief of staff, Christine Beatty, are being investigated to determine whether they lied under oath when they denied having an extramarital affair, reports the New York Times.


Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy was prompted to investigate following an article in the Detroit Free Press last week about text messages, many of them flirtatious, being sent between the two individuals, who have known each other since high school.


For example, an Oct. 16, 2002 text from Kilpatrick to Beatty stated: "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days. Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love."

The messages, transmitted to and from Beatty's city-owned pager in 2002 and 2003, appear to show that the two had an intimate relationship and suggest that they committed perjury by denying the affair during testimony in one of two whistleblower lawsuits that have cost taxpayers more than $9 million, the Times reports.

Kilpatrick, who was photographed recently kissing his wife, Carlita, in the driveway of his family's vacation home in Tallahassee, Fla., released a statement asking the public and the media to let him, Beatty and their families deal with the matter privately.


"These five- and six-year-old text messages reflect a very difficult period in my personal life," he said in the statement. "It is profoundly embarrassing to have these extremely private messages now displayed in such a public manner. My wife and I worked our way through these intensely personal issues years ago."


A union representing 900 municipal workers here called on Friday for Mr. Kilpatrick to resign and said members planned to picket City Hall next week.