DETROIT — Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced today to up to five years in prison for violating the terms of his probation stemming from his conviction for lying under oath about an affair with his chief of staff.
Kilpatrick, 39, asked Judge David Groner to show him compassion during the hearing, but Groner said, “That ship has sailed.”
Groner said that Kilpatrick would have to serve at least 11⁄2 years in prison, but that he would be credited for 120 days of time served from his original sentence. Kilpatrick is still obligated to pay back the remaining balance of his debt to the city, but to do that he’ll have to find a new job after he’s freed.
Shortly after the sentencing, Compuware Corp. said that Kilpatrick has being fired from his job as a medical software salesman for its Dallas-based subsidiary, Covisint.
Kilpatrick, the father of three young sons, was led from the courtroom in handcuffs.
Groner ruled last month that Kilpatrick failed to report all of his assets and meet other conditions of his probation. In court today, Groner scolded Kilpatrick for his continued lack of candor about his finances.
“Your continued attempt to cast yourself as the victim, your lack of forthrightness, your lack of contriteness and lack of humility … clearly rehabilitation has failed,” Groner told Kilpatrick after the former mayor spent about 15 minutes explaining why he should be allowed to return to his family in Dallas.
“I want to go home, your honor, where I belong,” Kilpatrick told Groner. “I’m not here because of a gun charge, or a drug charge. I’m here because of my confusion over some of the written orders that have been before me.”
At issue is the restitution Kilpatrick was ordered to pay the city after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to obstruction of justice. Kilpatrick testified in a whistle-blowers’ lawsuit that he was not romantically involved with his chief of staff, but text messages between the two later showed he was lying. Before the text message scandal broke, the city paid the two whistle blowers an $8.4 million settlement.
Kilpatrick, a Democrat, resigned, served 99 days in jail, agreed to give up his law license, repay the city $1 million, and stay out of politics for five years.
Groner listened to Kilpatrick’s statement today, but appeared unmoved.
“This lack of candor while under oath, dangerously approaches the very crime you were under sentence for,” Groner said.
After Groner announced the sentence, a loud, collective gasp rose from many of Kilpatrick’s supporters in the packed courtroom. Kilpatrick appeared shaken.
Assistant Prosecutor Athina Siringas said that the former mayor’s plea for mercy was “vintage Kwame Kilpatrick. The reality of the situation is totally different. He accepts no responsibility for his own behavior.”
Defense attorney Michael Alan Schwartz said he was “deeply disappointed” by the sentence and expressed uncertainty about how the city will receive the remaining $860,000 in restitution.
He said Kilpatrick was penalized for not being contrite. He didn’t wear “sackcloth and ashes,” he said.
Kilpatrick has 42 days in which to file an appeal.
After he was released from jail in February 2009, Kilpatrick found a job as a medical software salesman with Dallas-based Covisint. Since then, he has said he is working on his marriage and trying to be a better father to his three sons. He also has been making $3,000 monthly payments to the city of Detroit, saying he hopes to repay everything he owes.
But prosecutors contend he continues to lie — that Kilpatrick could afford to give more and has intentionally hid assets.
Groner agreed, saying Kilpatrick failed to disclose $240,000 in loans from prominent businessmen. He also said Kilpatrick failed to surrender nearly $23,400 in tax refunds and a share of cash gifts from two people.
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