Judge finds Kilpatrick guilty
Doug Guthrie and George Hunter / The Detroit News
Detroit -- Kwame Kilpatrick faces jail for violating probation terms that have allowed him to remain free and living high in Texas, a judge ruled today.
"He's facing incarceration," Wayne County Circuit Judge David Groner told prosecutors during Kilpatrick's criminal probation hearing. "You know that."
Groner ruled that Kilpatrick violated the terms of his probation because of his failure to disclose all of his assets as well as not reporting money he received from tax refunds for tapping political funds, and money he received from a $240,000 loan.
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The judge will decide Kilpatrick's fate at a sentencing hearing on May 25.
Groner stressed that he did not find Kilpatrick guilty because of his claimed inability to pay the court-ordered restitution.
"The court finds that the defendant's tax return was an asset," Groner said. "The defendant had the wherewithal and the obligation to disclose and surrender this money. The defendant's failure to do so was a direct violation of the court order."
The judge disagreed today with a request from Wayne County prosecutors to have Kilpatrick jailed immediately.
A woman was removed from the courtroom by bailiffs after she interjected the proceedings several times, including shouting "Amen" when Groner questioned the prosecutor's request to jail Kilpatrick.
The judge also said Kilpatrick's tapping of the Kilpatrick Civic Fund for moving expenses was a violation, as was hiding assets in the account of his wife, Carlita.
"This court is satisfied that the defendant allowed his wife to empty the joint account just prior to the restitution hearing," Groner said. "Further, even though he testified under oath that he had no control over his wife's assets, this court finds that argument to be unconvincing"
The refunds in question are $1,823 from the city of Detroit; $1,540 from Michigan; and $20,006 from the federal government, all of which Kilpatrick deposited in his bank account.
Probation officials will submit a presentence report before sentencing, Groner ruled.
Kilpatrick left the courthouse in an SUV, and a media scrum pursued with several reporters nearly missed being run over.
Kilpatrick also hasn't made a $240,000 restitution payment due by 4:30 p.m. today. Failure to pay would put him almost $280,000 behind on court-ordered payments on $1 million promised to the city when he took a plea bargain in 2008 to avoid trial on charges stemming from the infamous text message scandal.
Kilpatrick and his lawyers have said he doesn't have the money to pay.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy asked Groner to jail Kilpatrick because of numerous probation violations, including funneling more than $600,000 in funds, including loans and gifts, though his family bank accounts. Groner declared that money should have been disclosed to the court and could have been applied to restitution.
Kilpatrick's lawyers claimed all charges should be dismissed.
The judge had already ruled after an earlier restitution hearing that Kilpatrick deliberately hid assets in his wife's name. Groner called the signing over of funds to Kilpatrick's wife, including a $240,000 loan from four prominent Detroit businessmen, a "fraudulent conveyance." It was the amount of this loan that Groner ordered Kilpatrick in January to pay toward restitution today.
Earlier today, Carlita Kilpatrick filed a federal lawsuit in Texas alleging Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has tried to seize for restitution assets belonging to her and the couple's three children.
She wants assets she claims belong to her and the couple's sons separated from assets being considered by Groner's court as eligible for payment toward Kilpatrick's criminal restitution.
Wayne County Prosecutors have argued before Groner that Carlita Kilpatrick doesn't work, and that all her assets, including gifts, have flowed from her husband. Carlita Kilpatrick's lawyer in Dallas, Bobby Edmonds, was not available for comment today.
It is now within Groner's authority to send Kilpatrick to jail for any number of days or to prison for up five years, less the 99 days he served in the Wayne County Jail in late 2008 and early 2009. Groner could order Kilpatrick to return from Texas to live in Michigan, where he could be more closely supervised. He could order him to report to jail for a series of weekends.
John Cordell, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections, said the department's probation agents in Detroit will write a presentence report that studies Kilpatrick's personal history, his family and employment situation, and then grades the circumstances of his criminal convictions on a scale that results in a recommendation on the length of his sentence.
"If the violations are non-criminal, our agency has taken the position that we want to work with a probationer to continue to make progress on restitution," Cordell said. "Placing this defendant in jail or prison would certainly restrict his ability to pay, but both the judge and the agency have already made it clear in this case what the expectations were and I'm not sure how much more clear we can be. I really can't even speculate on what this court may determine is an appropriate outcome for Mr. Kilpatrick."
Kilpatrick's New York-based public relations spokesman, Mike Paul, said Kilpatrick is a victim of Detroit's current leaders who are attempting to divert attention from their own failures by blaming Kilpatrick.
"He left two years ago, and two years ago the city of Detroit wasn't called one of the most dangerous cities in America," Paul said. "When he was mayor, the city was thriving and had a vital downtown. The easiest way to govern is to point a finger at somebody else."
Paul said Sunday evening's nationally televised special on NBC's "Dateline" exposed the city's massive problems.
"The entire city needs to take a look at yourself. 'Dateline' just showed the world what you really are. You aren't a global city and you never were, even at your apex," Paul said. "You can blame Kwame Kilpatrick for a lot of things, but you can't blame him for that.
"It is time for Detroit to take a deep breath and stop blaming him for everything," he said. "Open the window and look at the burned out buildings and move on. Kwame Kilpatrick doesn't live in Detroit anymore. The city of Detroit isn't going to get rebuilt by saying Kwame Kilpatrick is to blame for everything."
Paul said after the ruling that he soon will be announcing plans to invite people to show their support for Kilpatrick financially and spiritually. Paul also acknowledged the possibility that Kilpatrick will go to jail.
"Now is the time to pray for him," he said. "Now is the time to support him. Now is the time to reach out."
But legal experts say evidence the former mayor hid assets has been overwhelming.
"I wouldn't be surprised to see Judge Groner order Mr. Kilpatrick back to jail, but not for an extended period of time," said Professor Larry Dubin of the University of Detroit Mercy Law School.
"I think it may be more the proverbial wake-up call that he not only needs to be candid with the court and Probation Department, but also must exercise his best efforts in paying off the restitution."
