Ex-Detroit Mayor Mistress Gets 120 Days

AP,

Posted: 2009-01-06 17:19:32

Filed Under: Top News

DETROIT – The former top aide and ex-lover of disgraced ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick followed her old boss to jail Tuesday, the last step in a criminal case that shook up Detroit politics for a year after romantic text messages between the pair made headlines.

The Detroit News / AP

Christine Beatty, once an influential figure at Detroit City Hall, waved goodbye to loved ones as she was ushered from a courtroom to begin a 120-day jail stay for obstruction of justice. She will serve her term in Wayne County jail, where Kilpatrick has been serving an identical sentence since late October.

Beatty and Kilpatrick, both 38, were charged with lying about their affair under oath during a 2007 civil trial on claims that two police officers were punished for investigating alleged wrongdoing in the mayor's inner circle.

The officers won their case, ultimately costing the city millions of dollars, but the scandal didn't break until January 2008 when the Detroit Free Press published sexually explicit text messages that exposed courtroom lies and extramarital trysts by Beatty and Kilpatrick, former high school classmates.

"It's now my hope that with this sentencing ... that this chapter in the city's history will be closed," Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Kenny said.

Kwame Kilpatrick Pictures

** FILE ** Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy addresses the media in her office in Detroit, Friday, Jan. 25, 2008. The investigation into whether Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former top aide committed perjury or other crimes during testimony in a highly publicized whistle-blowers' trial is all part of the job for the Wayne County prosecutor. And she doesn't even consider it the toughest assignment she's had since she's been in the prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, file)
AP
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick addresses the media during a news conference in Detroit, Tuesday, March 18, 2008. A nearly unified City Council voiced its displeasure with Kilpatrick on Tuesday, calling on the scandal-tainted mayor to resign. A resolution, which passed on a 7-1 vote in the early afternoon, was more of a "no-confidence" vote. The council doesn't have the power to force Kilpatrick to step down. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
AP
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick addresses the media during a news conference in Detroit, Tuesday, March 18, 2008. A nearly unified City Council voiced its displeasure with Kilpatrick on Tuesday, calling on the scandal-tainted mayor to resign. A resolution, which passed on a 7-1 vote in the early afternoon, was more of a "no-confidence" vote. The council doesn't have the power to force Kilpatrick to step down. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
AP
** FILE ** Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox speaks during an interview in this April 11, 2005, file photo, in Lansing, Mich. Cox said Wednesday, March 12, 2008, that Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick should resign because he's a liar and a race-baiter "on par with David Duke and George Wallace," and no longer fit for office. (AP Photo/Al Goldis, file)
AP
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick gives his State of the City address in Detroit, Tuesday, March 11, 2008. A prosecutor says she will announce in two weeks whether she will file perjury charges against the mayor and his former top aide. The case stems from a criminal probe of whether Kilpatrick lied under oath when he denied an affair with former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty that was revealed in the text messages. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
AP
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick gives his seventh State of the City address in Detroit, Michigan, March 11, 2008. Embattled Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick on Tuesday said scandals threatening to derail his second term amounted to a "hate-driven, bigoted assault" against him and vowed to stay in office and fight for sweeping investment plans for the city. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook (UNITED STATES)
Reuters
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick points towards his family before the start of his seventh State of the City address in Detroit, Michigan, March 11, 2008. Embattled Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick on Tuesday said scandals threatening to derail his second term amounted to a "hate-driven, bigoted assault" against him and vowed to stay in office and fight for sweeping investment plans for the city. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook (UNITED STATES)
Reuters
The parents and sister of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (L), Ayanna (C) and Bernard Kilpatrick stand before the start of Mayor Kilpatrick's State of the City address in Detroit, Michigan, March 11, 2008. Embattled Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick on Tuesday said scandals threatening to derail his second term amounted to a "hate-driven, bigoted assault" against him and vowed to stay in office and fight for sweeping investment plans for the city. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook (UNITED STATES)
Reuters
DETROIT - MARCH 11: Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings says the Pledge of Alligiance before Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's State of the City address March 11, 2008 in Detroit, Michigan. Several members of the city council protested the Mayor by sitting in the audience instead of sitting on stage with the Mayor. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Protestors demonstrate outside of Orchestra Hall where Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was giving his State of the City address March 11, 2008 in Detroit, Michigan. Four members of the nine-member council declined to take their customary seats onstage with the mayor, who is in the midst of a text-messaging scandal involving charges of sexual misconduct and of perjury related to a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by former police officers against the city. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY == (Photo credit should read BILL PUGLIANO/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images

Beatty, Kilpatrick's former chief of staff, agreed to the sentence when she pleaded guilty in December. Kenny made it official during a morning court hearing.

Beatty also must pay $100,000 to the city and cannot attend law school during her five-year probation.

Given the chance to speak, Beatty declined, saying: "No, your honor. Thank you."

Kenny praised Beatty for her "dignified" conduct during various court hearings but also criticized her and her former boss, blaming them for a scandal that damaged the city.

"I do think that this case does represent the triumph of truth over political power and might and it also indicates, I think, that lying under oath in court has a price tag, even for those who are the politically elite within the community," the judge said.

Deputy Chief Gary Brown and officer Harold Nelthrope claimed their police careers suffered when Kilpatrick learned they suspected misconduct by his security unit. Among the allegations: Police bodyguards helped cover up Kilpatrick's extramarital affairs.

A jury ruled in favor of Brown and Nelthrope, and Kilpatrick vowed to appeal. But he subsequently settled the case and another one for a total of $8.4 million when he learned that a lawyer for the former officers had obtained the mayor's text messages.

The publishing of the messages ignited a political crisis and a criminal investigation. City Council members said they hadn't known the settlement deal carried secret provisions to forever keep a lid on messages between Kilpatrick and Beatty.

Beatty quit her City Hall job after the story broke, and the pair were charged in March. Kilpatrick, a Democrat, held onto his job for months before making a deal with prosecutors and leaving office in September.

County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said during a post-sentencing news conference that she hopes the case "has taught us that right is right and wrong is wrong, that trying to cover up that wrong is even worse and it can be expensive."

Beatty's attorney, Mayer Morganroth, said Beatty had little money — "$6 and some change" in a bank account. The judge said he would like to hold a hearing in the months after Beatty's release to discuss whether she has been able to get a job and begin making payments toward the $100,000 total.

Beatty, a divorced mother of two young daughters, also owes her lawyers $746,000.

The Rev. Ronald Griffin, Beatty's pastor, said she learned some important lessons during the ordeal and that her silence Tuesday in court reflected the weight of the case.

"She's having a tough time just understanding her life's changed. She could not speak," he said. "I think justice was served. What I teach is, we choose our sins but not our consequences. Chris gets it."

Morganroth predicted Beatty could be released in around 70 days with credit for good behavior and participation in certain jail programs. But the actual length of the stay will be determined by the Wayne County sheriff's office, which runs the jail.

2008-05-04 10:45:12

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