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Kwame Kilpatrick resigns

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Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to felony charges Thursday and was ordered jailed for four months and fined $1 million.
The guilty plea comes after the investigation of a sex scandal that Kilpatrick said was nonexistent.
“I lied under oath,” Kilpatrick said in court.
Kilpatrick’s resignation will take effect on Sept. 18 and City Council President Ken Cockrel Jr. will succeed Kilpatrick as mayor until a special election is held.
The 38-year-old Detroit official will serve four months in jail and five years of probation. He will pay the $1 million in restitution over a five-year probationary period. He also will not be able to run for any elected office for five years and will be stripped of his law license.
The mayor will be sentenced on Oct. 28. He will report to jail that day, said Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.
Minutes after Kilpatrick pleaded guilty, Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings–who had been criticized for her role in firing the officers who later filed the whistle-blower case against the city–suddenly announced her retirement.
During a separate hearing moments after Wayne County Circuit Court Judge David Groner accepted the mayor’s plea, Kilpatrick offered a no contest plea in an assault case.
The judge also accepted that plea, which called for Kilpatrick to serve a four-month jail sentence that would run at the same time.
Kilpatrick had faced 10 felony counts in the two separate criminal cases.
Circuit Court Judge David 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 also read a statement saying, “I lied under oath … I did so with an intent to mislead the court and jury and to impede and obstruct the fair administration of justice.”
The married mayor and former top aide Christine Beatty were charged in March with perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice. Kilpatrick and Beatty are accused of lying under oath about an affair and their roles in the firing of a deputy police chief.
Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm described the events of the day as “a sad but historic story” that’s coming to an end.
“A public office is entrusted to the person who holds that office but belongs to the people who are served by that office,” she said.

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