Thaindian News

By Madhuri Dey
Detroit, May 26, (THAINDIAN NEWS) Kwame Kilpatrick, the former Mayor of Detroit, has been sentenced to five years in prison. The sentence was passed on Tuesday by a Wayne County Circuit Court judge, David Groner. The former Mayor has been convicted of violation of the terms of probation. He was awarded the probation in 2008, on charges of obstruction of justice and perjury. The judge said that Kwame Kilpatrick had tried to mislead the court about his assets, and had lied about his finances by hiding his assets. He owed the city of Detroit an amount of 1 million. Moreover, he had also attempted to conceal evidence, that is, his text messages, in relation to his affair with the former chief of staff.

The judge David Groner commented that the behavior of the former Mayor has been totally against what he had been taught in rehabilitation, adding that he had definitely failed to learn anything from the four months of serving prison sentence following being pronounced guilty by the court in 2008. Following the verdict, he had also been forced to resign from his post, submit his law license, and promise to pay up the amount to the city of Detroit, which he failed to do, citing false finances.

The sentence that the judge pronounced on Kwame Kilpatrick was considered to be too harsh by his supporters, who felt that he could have been awarded a more lenient sentence. Before being led put pf the courtroom, wearing handcuffs, the Mayor was told that if he wanted to appeal the sentence, he will have to do so in the next 45 days.