Former aide to mayor admits guilt
Detroit governmental controversy settled, officials sentenced to jail time, fines
Joe Swickard and Jim Schaefer
Issue date: 12/4/08 Section: Nation & World News
DETROIT (MCT) - Between sobs and sighs Monday morning, Christine Beatty accepted her share of guilt in the text message scandal that has gripped metro Detroit for almost 12 months and made felons of her and her former boss, ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
"I lied under oath," Beatty said shakily as part of her guilty pleas before Wayne County, Mich., Circuit Judge Timothy Kenny. She admitted lying to jurors and seeking to "impede and obstruct the fair administration of justice" in a 2007 police whistle-blower case.
Hours later, Beatty read a statement at her attorney's office apologizing "to all of the people that were harmed in this ordeal," noting particularly the anguish suffered by her family, Kilpatrick's family and Detroit's scandal-weary residents. She never specifically mentioned the cops who filed the whistle-blower claims.
Beatty's deal, worked out over the past week, calls for her to serve a 120-day jail term, five years on probation and pay $100,000 restitution to the city of Detroit in exchange for pleading guilty to two felony obstruction of justice charges. She is set to go to jail immediately after her Jan. 5 sentencing.
The plea is a milestone in an ordeal that began Jan. 23, when the Detroit Free Press published text messages sent by Beatty and then-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on city-issued pagers. The messages showed the pair lied under oath in the whistle-blower case when they denied a sexual affair and sought to mislead jurors about the firing of one cop, deputy chief Gary Brown, whose career was ended by Beatty's and Kilpatrick's actions.
The plea and jail term are a coda to the career journey she has taken with Kilpatrick since they met more than 20 years ago in the hallway at Cass Tech High School. She has served as a trusted adviser and stern enforcer on Kilpatrick's behalf as he moved through the state Legislature and Detroit's City Hall. Starting next month, they will both be inmates in the Wayne County Jail.
"I lied under oath," Beatty said shakily as part of her guilty pleas before Wayne County, Mich., Circuit Judge Timothy Kenny. She admitted lying to jurors and seeking to "impede and obstruct the fair administration of justice" in a 2007 police whistle-blower case.
Hours later, Beatty read a statement at her attorney's office apologizing "to all of the people that were harmed in this ordeal," noting particularly the anguish suffered by her family, Kilpatrick's family and Detroit's scandal-weary residents. She never specifically mentioned the cops who filed the whistle-blower claims.
Beatty's deal, worked out over the past week, calls for her to serve a 120-day jail term, five years on probation and pay $100,000 restitution to the city of Detroit in exchange for pleading guilty to two felony obstruction of justice charges. She is set to go to jail immediately after her Jan. 5 sentencing.
The plea is a milestone in an ordeal that began Jan. 23, when the Detroit Free Press published text messages sent by Beatty and then-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on city-issued pagers. The messages showed the pair lied under oath in the whistle-blower case when they denied a sexual affair and sought to mislead jurors about the firing of one cop, deputy chief Gary Brown, whose career was ended by Beatty's and Kilpatrick's actions.
The plea and jail term are a coda to the career journey she has taken with Kilpatrick since they met more than 20 years ago in the hallway at Cass Tech High School. She has served as a trusted adviser and stern enforcer on Kilpatrick's behalf as he moved through the state Legislature and Detroit's City Hall. Starting next month, they will both be inmates in the Wayne County Jail.
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