Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick took office in 2002 as the youngest mayor in the city's history. On September 4, 2008, Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to charges of obstruction of justice, conspiracy and perjury and resigned his office. Kilpatrick is serving four months in jail and be placed on probation for ten years.

Fast Facts

1. Former mayor of Detroit
2. Elected: 2001
3. Re-elected: 2005
4. Resigned: September 4, 2008
5. Time period of relationship in question: 2002 to 2003
6. Could face disbarment for perjury
7. Will serve four months in jail
8. Must pay city $1 million

The Scandal

Accused of infidelity, Kilpatrick denied any romantic involvement with staff-member Christine Beatty when testifying under oath in 2007. However, text messages on his city-owned BlackBerry confirmed that romantic text messages were exchanged. On March 25, 2008, Kilpatrick pleaded not guilty to perjury and obstruction of justice charges, but in July, Kilpatrick was charged again, this time with misconduct in office after additional text messages to additional women were revealed.^{1 2} Two felony charges were added on August 8. The charges stemmed from a July 24 incident where Kilpatrick allegedly assaulted two police officers who were attempting to deliver a subpoena to a friend of Kilpatrick's. On that same day, Kilpatrick was ordered to jail for a bond violation. Kilpatrick reportedly made an unauthorized trip to Windsor, Ontario, Canada without first notifying the court. He was also charged with two felony counts of assaulting a police officer.

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