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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Judge orders ex-Detroit mayor Kilpatrick to pay $319,000 |
| 2010-01-22 |
| A judge branded former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick a liar Wednesday, ordering him to cough up $319,000 within three months toward the $1 million in restitution. Kilpatrick owes the city from his 2008 perjury conviction or face further punishment. Wayne County Circuit Judge David Groner ripped Kilpatrick at the court hearing over what the judge characterized as an intentional effort to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars from the court's scrutiny since Kilpatrick, 39, was placed on probation following his release from jail in February. "You have not been credible in this courtroom and you, again, have not been honest to the city of Detroit." Groner said. He called Kilpatrick's conduct while on probation "reprehensible." Groner's ruling exceeded the $225,000 catch-up payment requested by prosecutors. After the hearing, Kilpatrick said, "I'm just ready to get on and do what I have to do," the Associated Press reported. Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to felony charges in September 2008 stemming from perjured testimony he offered in a 2007 police whistle-blower trial. His lies were revealed after the Detroit Free Press obtained text messages Kilpatrick had exchanged with his lover and chief aide, Christine Beatty, on city-issued pagers. They showed that Kilpatrick and Beatty had lied in court testimony when they denied a sexual relationship. The newspaper also revealed that Kilpatrick and city lawyers agreed to settle the whistle-blower cases for $8.4 million in an unsuccessful bid to keep the incriminating text messages private. As part of Kilpatrick's guilty plea, he agreed to resign as mayor, serve four months in prison and pay the city of Detroit $1 million in restitution. To date, Kilpatrick, who now lives and works in suburban Dallas, has repaid Detroit about $87,000. On Wednesday, Groner ordered Kilpatrick to pay the city a large chunk of hundreds of thousands of dollars he and his family have received from various Detroit-area businessmen since his release from jail. Groner said that many of the transactions were paid in a manner to avoid the court's reach. Kilpatrick also was ordered to complete his $1 million restitution duties within four years, instead of five. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Oh, come on. With an administration that ignores the Black Panther suppression of civil rights, you think for a moment they're going to take time away from micro examining Scott Brown's returns to worry about another member of the Inner Party(c)? /rhet question. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-01-22 07:20 |
| #1 Groner said that many of the transactions were paid in a manner to avoid the court's reach. What about the "reach" of the IRS? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-01-22 04:44 |