Movin' on up... or out of Manoogian Mansion! Detroit Mayor pleads guilty, states 'I Lied Under Oath'

Mayor Pleads Guilty, States 'I Lied Under Oath'
Mayor Out Of Office

POSTED: 4:49 pm EDT September 3, 2008
UPDATED: 1:55 pm EDT September 4, 2008

DETROIT -- Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has resigned from his
position as Detroit Mayor.

In a letter sent to Gov. Jennifer Granholm early Thursday afternoon,
the mayor said his resignation will be effective Sept. 18, 2008.

This comes hours after Kilpatrick accepted a plea deal in a perjury
case and assault charges that forced an end to his tenure as the
city's mayor and will send him to jail.

Wayne County Circuit Court Judge David Groner resided over the court
case in which Kilpatrick agreed to plead guilty to two felony counts
of obstruction of justice by committing perjury.

Part of the plea agreement includes immediate resignation within 14
days; pay restitution of $1 million; and four months in jail. He is
also barred from running for public office for five years.

He will also have to hand over his law license and turn over his state
pension to the city of Detroit.

Judge Groner read aloud all of the charges against Kilpatrick and told
him all but two would be dismissed.

He also asked Kilpatrick several questions regarding his guilty plea,
and whether he was doing it on his own willingness and whether he was
satisfied with what was taking place.

Groner asked Kilpatrick if he understood he was giving up the right to
be innocent until proven guilty.

"I gave that up a long time ago," Kilpatrick replied.

Kilpatrick answered each question and stated that he knew exactly what
was taking place and was agreeing to plead guilty.

"I lied under oath in the case of Gary Brown and Harold Nelthrope
versus the city of Detroit, Case No. 03317557NZ, regarding information
that was relevant to claims made by Gary Brown and Harold Nelthrope. I
did so with an intent to mislead the court and jury and to impede and
obstruct the fair administration of justice," Kilpatrick told the
judge.

Kilpatrick, 38 years old and in his second four-year term as mayor,
was charged with 10 felonies in two cases.

In the first case, he and Christine Beatty were charged with perjury,
conspiracy, misconduct and obstruction of justice. They are accused of
lying during the 2007 whistle-blowers' trial about having an
extramarital affair and their roles in the firing of a deputy police
chief.

Text messages from Beatty's city-issued pager contradicted their
testimony.

Kilpatrick will be sentenced Oct. 28 at 2 p.m.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy told the media after the court
hearing there was not alot she was going to say at this point.

"I am going to wait until this final sentence is announced. A plea is
never final until the judge signs off on the sentencing," Worthy said.
We did not give an inch, and these conditions were basically to a
letter of what we wanted all along

In the second case, Kilpatrick was charged with two counts of assault
after he allegedly shoved a Wayne County detective into an
investigator while they were trying to serve his friend a subpoena.

The Michigan Attorney General's Office offered a new plea to
Kilpatrick on Thursday.

Doug Baker said the two sides had agreed to an agreement that if
Kilpatrick pleads no contest on the first count of assault, the second
count will be dismissed at time of sentencing.

Baker said that deal would require Kilpatrick's immediate resignation
from his job as the mayor of Detroit and will spend jail time
concurrent with the previous plea deal.
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