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Kilpatrick: A Day After Resignation

POSTED: Friday, September 5, 2008
UPDATED: 4:27 pm EDT March 8, 2009

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has 13 days to pack up his office on the 13th floor of the City Hall building after he accepted a plea deal in two cases Thursday that included his resignation and jail time.

Kilpatrick's resignation has also triggered the resignation of many of his staff members as they packed up their offices in the city building and loaded their cars Friday.

City Officials said Kilpatrick will have 30 days to find another place to live and move his family out of the city-owned Manoogian Mansion.

Kilpatrick was in good spirits Friday as he shook hands and thanked his well-wishers at a luncheon Friday afternoon.

Also of Friday, he turned in his official DNA sample for the National Criminal Database, which is required by all convicted felons.

Part of the plea agreement includes immediate resignation within 14 days as of Thursday; restitution payments totaling $1 million; and four months in jail.

Kilpatrick could get a reduced sentence of 75 days in jail with time off for good behavior. However, he will spend Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years in jail.

The court will asses the $1 million restitution fee based on how much Kilpatrick already has and how much he can pay.

Kilpatrick will be sentenced Oct. 28 at 2 p.m.

Kilpatrick is barred from running for public office for five years, according to the plea deal.

He will also have to hand over his law license and turn over his state pension to the city of Detroit.

Kilpatrick gave his resignation speech Thursday evening.

Speech: Watch Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's Resignation Speech

“You have to stand strong for the city of Detroit, I have always said I would stand strong for the city of Detroit,” he said. “But sometimes standing strong means stepping down.”

Kilpatrick said he wanted to emphasize that he took full responsibility for his actions and poor judgment.

It was after “much deliberation” and a “difficult decision” that Kilpatrick said he would “step down as mayor of the city of Detroit.”

Kilpatrick spoke of his administration’s accomplishment during what he called the worst economy since the Great Depression. He said it was “just short of a miracle” the great things the city has come to produce.

“I turn my attention to the healing that I need to do with my family,” Kilpatrick said.

Kilpatrick proclaimed a “new beginning” for the city of Detroit with his exit and asked that community members offer their support for Ken Cockrel Jr., who will become the next mayor.

To read more about Kilpatrick’s speech, click here.

Kilpatrick, 38, is in his second four-year term as mayor. He was charged with 10 felonies in two cases.

In the first case, he and Christine Beatty were charged with perjury, conspiracy, misconduct and obstruction of justice. They are accused of lying during the 2007 whistle-blowers' trial about having an extramarital affair and their roles in the firing of a deputy police chief.

Text messages from Beatty's city-issued pager contradicted their testimony.

Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick said she supports her son’s decision to resign as mayor and plead guilty to felony charges.

In a second case, Kilpatrick was charged with two counts of assault after he allegedly shoved a Wayne County detective into an investigator while they were trying to serve his friend a subpoena.

The Michigan Attorney General's Office offered a new plea to Kilpatrick on Thursday.

Doug Baker said the two sides had agreed to an agreement that if Kilpatrick pleads no contest on the first count of assault, the second count will be dismissed at the time of sentencing.

Baker said that deal would require Kilpatrick's immediate resignation from his job as the mayor of Detroit and will spend jail time concurrent with the previous plea deal.

Also, Granholm announced just after noon on Thursday that she is adjourning the hearings that were scheduled to determine whether Kilpatrick should be ousted from office based on the court proceedings that took place earlier in the day.

Granholm said Friday, that ultimately the mayor did the right thing and resigned.

"This is a moment to turn the page and move on."

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