DETROIT -- The one-time chief of staff for ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick says she decided to take a plea deal and avoid a trial for fear she would have been away from her family for a longer period of time.

Beatty said while weighting her choices, she decided not to go to trial and take the chance of being away from her daughters longer than necessary.

An emotional Christine Beatty, her voice cracking, spoke for several minutes during a press event Monday afternoon at her attorneys office in Southfield, hours after pleading guilty to two felony counts.

She says she is sorry for causing pain to loved ones, her family, the former mayor's family and the city of Detroit.

Beatty said she is a true Detroiter and she felt thankful for the opportunity to work there. "I hope one day, the work I accomplished in the six years will show through," she said.

Under a deal with prosecutors, the 38-year-old agreed to five years of probation, which will start when she serves 120 days in Jail. She will pay $100,000 in restitution to the city of Detroit, which will be paid for during the five years of probation.

She will have until Jan. 5 to begin serving her time.

Instant Feedback: Beatty Reaches Plea Deal
Download: Court Documents From Beatty's Plea Deal

Beatty also teared up as the judge asked her to read her statement in court earlier in the day. After a brief pause to compose herself, she read, "I lied under oath in the case of Harold Nelthrope and Jerry Brown regarding information that was relevant to the case. I did so with the intent to mislead the court and jury and to impede and obstruct the fair administration of justice."

She continued, "I lied under oath of the civil deposition of the Brown and Nelthrope lawsuit."

Beatty's Tearful Admission

The judge accepted her plea and scheduled her sentencing for Jan. 5 at 9 a.m.

The Wayne County Sheriff's Department told Local 4 it has not decided if Beatty will be locked up in the Wayne County Jail.

Beatty's lawyers have requested that she be in an isolation cell wherever she goes. In the Wayne County Jail, there are only two isolation cells. Ironically, former Mayor Kilpatrick inhabits one cell, and the other isolation cell is next to him.

Beatty has full custody of two daughters, 8 and 15. Her lawyers said the girls two grandmothers will help care for the girls while she is in jail. As Beatty left the courtroom, Local 4's Kevin Dietz asked her if she had anything to say. "No comment," she said as she walked away.

"Under the circumstances, it was the appropriate thing," her attorney, Mike Morganroth said as he left the courtroom.

"We are very happy as to how this was settled. We are ready to move on as a city, as a region, as a state," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said. "Come Jan. 5, when she is sentenced, we can truly move on and close the chapter on this."

Prosecutor Responds To Plea Deal

Beatty was facing seven felony charges, had previously rejected a deal from Worthy in September that included a 150-day jail sentence.

Kilpatrick and Beatty were charged in March with perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice. They're accused of lying under oath about an affair and their roles in the firing of three police officers.

The two police officers filed a civil lawsuit that claimed Kilpatrick retaliated against them when they suspected wrongdoing by his inner circle.

Among the allegations: Police bodyguards helped cover up Kilpatrick's extramarital affairs.

Sexually explicit text messages published in January by the Detroit Free Press contradicted witness-stand denials of an affair by Kilpatrick and Beatty.

A jury last year ruled in favor of Brown and Nelthrope, and Kilpatrick vowed to appeal. But he subsequently settled the case and another one for $8.4 million when he learned that a lawyer for the former officers had obtained the mayor's text messages.

City Council members said they didn't know the deal carried secret provisions to forever keep a lid on messages between Kilpatrick and Beatty. Then the paper published some earlier this year, igniting a political crisis and a criminal investigation.

Kilpatrick accepted a plea deal and began a 120-day jail sentence in October. His deal also called for him to resign as mayor, spend five years on probation, and pay $1 million to the city and surrender his law license.

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Some Detroit City Council members said they are happy this chapter of city hall scandal is over.

"I am glad this is going to be behind her for the sake of her children," said Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers.