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Detroit Mayor's In Hot Water | News | BET.com

Posted March 25, 2008 – Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, pleaded not guilty today on perjury charges about an affair they had and using millions of dollars from the city's coffers in an attempt to cover it up.

The pair faces charges of perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office. They were released on $75,000 bail each, and preliminary examination has been set for June 9.

If convicted of all charges, Kilpatrick could face up to 90 years in jail.Kilpatrick and Beatty are charged with multiple counts of perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office, after they allegedly lied in court last year to cover up their extra-marital affair with one another.

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The pair separately turned themselves in to Wayne County Sheriff's officials Monday, hours after Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy gave them until 7 a.m. to surrender.

Kilpatrick and Beatty are charged with five-year and 15-year felonies; their apparent relationship was among the issues they're accused of trying to hide by demoting two police investigators in 2003.

The ex-officers, Gary Brown and Harold Nelthorpe, won a multi-million-dollar civil lawsuit last year after they claimed financial ruin and personal devastation due to the removal from their positions. At the cops' 2007 civil lawsuit trial, both Kilpatrick and Beatty denied under oath that they removed the cops, despite text messages that suggest otherwise.

A Detroit Free Press article detailed excerpts of numerous messages exchanged between Beatty's and Kilpatrick's city-issued pagers. Along with discussions of how they would handle the police investigation, the messages suggested a sexual relationship between the two.

The eight counts against Kilpatrick and seven counts against Beatty are based on the prosecutor’s two-month investigation. But Worthy says city lawyers attempted to block the probe and that, as a result, other officials may also be charged.

Both Kilpatrick's and Beatty's lawyers say their clients deserve their day in court and will be vindicated.

Should the personal text messages between Beatty and Kilpatrick should be used against him? Do you believe it's over for Kilpatrick?  Click "Discuss Now" to post your comment.

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