Traverse City Record-Eagle

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  • Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, center, heads to federal court in Detroit. The Associated Press

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January 26, 2013

Ex-Detroit mayor back in custody for weekend

Kilpatrick locked up for violating parole

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DETROIT (AP) — Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was locked up for the weekend Friday for violating parole in a 2008 criminal case that bounced him from office.

Kilpatrick was not arrested but arrived on his own after another day at the federal courthouse, where he's on trial for alleged corruption in a completely separate matter.

The Michigan Department of Corrections said Kilpatrick committed 14 violations related to his failure to report certain financial transactions last fall, especially money transfers to his wife, Carlita. He still owes Detroit $855,000 in restitution and is required to report gifts and other income as a condition of his parole.

Kilpatrick agreed to waive the formal process for parole violations and instead serve three days at a Detroit lockup as punishment, Corrections Department spokesman Russ Marlan said.

He's being housed at a former prison that is used by the state to keep parole violators in short-term custody. The dinner menu Friday was baked fish or a bean patty.

Officials earlier this month told Kilpatrick to give up the names of people who wired him $4,000 that he had failed to disclose. He was fitted with an electronic tether at the time for not disclosing money sent in December from a Chicago pastor. Officials have expressed concern that Kilpatrick is hiding assets that could be applied toward the restitution he owes.

"Additional charges and/or sanctions could be possible should new information on potential parole violation behavior come to light," Marlan said.

Kilpatrick's attorney, Todd Flood, said the ex-mayor accepted three nights behind bars rather than be locked up for at least 45 days while awaiting an administrative hearing.

"Waiving the hearing is not an admission of guilt. ... Life is difficult. He's got a lot of things on his plate. He's doing the best he can while on trial," Flood said.

Since Jan. 10, Kilpatrick has been barred from traveling to the Dallas area where his wife and three sons live. He's staying at the Detroit home of his mother, former U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, while on trial on corruption charges.

Kilpatrick didn't comment at the courthouse, but Flood expressed concern. He said jurors might hear about the weekend in jail and draw an unfavorable impression, even though they've been told to avoid news reports during the trial.

"If a juror hears that, you don't want it in the back of their mind when they decide the case," Flood said.

Kilpatrick is charged with a series of crimes related to an alleged scheme to pocket hundreds of thousands of dollars through racketeering and extortion. The government says many of his targets were contractors who did business with the city and were desperate to keep it. His father, Bernard, and a close friend, Bobby Ferguson, also are on trial.

An Internal Revenue Service agent testified Friday that Kilpatrick should owe $200,000 in back taxes tied to unreported income.

Kilpatrick, a Democrat, was elected Detroit mayor in 2001. He resigned in 2008 and pleaded guilty to obstructing justice by lying in a civil case about having sex with an aide. He subsequently served 14 months in prison for violating his probation in that case.

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