Monday, March 24, 2008

Detroit’s should-be ex-mayor charged with multiple felonies



It’s looking more and more like you can stick a fork into the once-rising political career of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Today he was charged with multiple felonies, including perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office.

The charges stem from Kilpatrick’s role in a whistleblower scandal, in which he denied under oath having anything to do with the firing of the whistleblower. He also denied having a sexual relationship with his former Chief of Staff, Christine Beatty.

The 37 year-old Kilpatrick was charged by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.

The charges rose from text messages that contained sexually-explicit messages sent back and forth from the mayor and Beatty. The mayor is said to have also acknowledged in the messages his role in the firing of the whistleblower.

Why Kilpatrick and Beatty would engage in incriminating activity on cell phones that could easily be reproduced is absolutely beyond me.

Kilpatrick faces 12 total counts. If convicted of perjury, he could get up to 15 years in prison and, obviously, be forced to resign his office.

For more information on the background of the Kilpatrick controversy, check out this blog by Debbie Schlussel.

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