A Web site purported to be collecting $1 million to help Kilpatrick pay off his fine

Beware, if you were planning to send a donation to help Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pay off his court-ordered $1 million restitution. Somebody has set up a special Web site, purportedly to collect contributions for the disgraced mayor, who was sentenced to four months in prison and five years probation, in addition to the fine and his forced resignation. But a spokesman for Kilpatrick says that hizzoner is not connected to the site in any way. Find out what he had to say at BET.com/News.

Outgoing Detroit mayor tells citizens he takes responsibility for felonies.
Outgoing mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick says his fall from political grace won’t be the end of his contributions to community leadership. Hours after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice and announcing his plans to resign, the beleaguered leader gave farewell speech to supporters and live TV cameras, saying, “I take full responsibility for my actions.” Kilpatrick agreed to serve four months in jail and pay $1 million in restitution in exchange for dismissal of perjury charges, additional felonies and the possibility of 10 or more years in prison. In addition, the mayor must surrender his law license and agrees not to run for office during his five years of probation. Kilpatrick’s perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office charges stemmed from his discipline of cops whose investigation into police overtime threatened to expose the mayor’s personal life. Dozens of text messages sent between Kilpatrick and his ex-chief of staff Christine Beatty show an extra-marital affair between them in 2003. The former officers were blocked from probing alleged overtime abuse by Kilpatrick’s security squad whose members reportedly served duty during the mayor’s sexual encounters. Kilpatrick and Beatty, who’s now divorced, denied their affair while under oath at a 2007 civil trial where the investigating cops sued the mayor and the city. The cops won their lawsuit and the mayor later settled on the city’s behalf for $8.4 million - apparently after learning about the text messages. Beatty has since divorced her husband and also faces multiple felonies. “I wish that we could turn back the hands of time and tell that young man to make better choices, but I can’t,” Kilpatrick said Thursday night. Immediately following his guilty plea, the mayor pleaded no contest in a separate assault case involving a July confrontation with Wayne County sheriff’s deputies. While not specifying how he’d comeback from the legal and political devastation he’s facing, Kilpatrick expressed pride and appreciation for his administration and family, saying he’ll “rise” again.

BET News Quiz. Detroit mayor will get jail time, millions of Blacks still not registered to vote and one female rapper is looking to adopt. Test your knowledge here!

Removal hearings for Kwame Kilpatrick scheduled for today

Barring a last-minute plea agreement, historic proceedings are set to begin this morning for the possible removal of Detroit’s mayor. Gov. Jennifer Granholm will preside over the hearings requested by Detroit City Council, in the wake of multiple felony charges leveled against Kwame Kilpatrick this spring. He’s accused of both lying in court about an extra-marital affair with his ex-chief of staff and hiding evidence of the affair by settling a multi-million-dollar lawsuit with ex-cops who could’ve exposed the romance. Kilpatrick’s lawyers worked through Labor Day weekend and on Tuesday trying to negotiate a plea that wouldn’t include jail time for and hoping to get a court order stopping Granholm’s hearings. The mayor reportedly sought to offer his resignation, surrender his law license and state pension, do community service and probation, all in exchange for no jail time. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is said to be unyielding on the question of Kilpatrick’s incarceration. The mayor enjoyed a small victory Tuesday when a court agreed to let him remove his ankle monitor at a bond hearing. But a second judge, followed by the Michigan Court of Appeals, ruled that the governor’s hearing can proceed. Granholm’s removal of Kilpatrick would leave him subject to prosecution without the chance to resign as part of any plea. About a dozen witnesses are expected to testify at the 9 a.m. hearing, which Granholm - former Michigan attorney general - plans to oversee.

Clock ticking as Detroit mayor reportedly turns down second plea offer 

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick could be spending his final week in office after reportedly turning down a second plea opportunity to reduce the felony charges he faces. Kilpatrick last week rejected an offer from prosecutors that would let him plead guilty to one of two felony assault charges, connected with his alleged shove of a sheriff’s deputy at his sister’s home last month. Get more details at BET.com/News.

Governor To Decide Kilpatrick’s Fate

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s poltical future now rests in the hands of the governor.  Gov. Jennifer Granholm said on Tuesday that she may use a provision in the state constitution to have him removed from office for misconduct, The Associated Press reports. Read more about the city counci’s appeal to the governor and the charges Kilpatrick faces at BET.com/News.

Skin head gets 25 years for murdering a Black man. The justice system is finally bringing some closure to the nearly 20-year-old murder of a Black man in Philly. Thomas Gibison, a White supremacist, was convicted of conspiracy in the 1989 shooting death of Aaron Wood and was sentenced to up to 25 years in prison, The Associated Press reports. A friend of Gibison testified during the trial that they went to North Philadelphia to find a Black man to kill so they could earn a White supremacist tattoo. Gibison already is serving time in prison for unrelated weapons offenses charges.

March on Washington anniversary remembered. Forty-five years ago, thousands descended on D.C., and changed America forever. See the photos here.

Kwame Kilpatrick’s trip to DNC still in question.

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is due in court tomorrow for the fifth time in weeks, where he’ll be arraigned on charges that he assaulted a sheriff’s deputy last month. Kilpatrick also faces criminal charges of perjury for his alleged involvement in a cover-up of a police investigation and his denial under oath that he had an extra-marital affair with his former chief of staff. The denials contradict hundreds of text messages sent between Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty, who also faces perjury charges. Kilpatrick’s next court appearance could determine whether he’s free to travel to next week’s Democratic National Convention and historic nomination of Barack Obama. Last week, Judge Leonard Townsend reversed an order that Kilpatrick wear an ankle tether and be restricted from leaving metro Detroit after a bond violation. But within hours, Kilpatrick was tethered again, due to separate restrictions connected with the assault charge. Townsend shocked prosecutors by openly advocating in court for the mayor to attend the Democratic National Convention, but Kilpatrick has said he doesn’t want to be a distraction. Many critics of the mayor say his association with Obama could cost the presidential candidate votes in November.

Judge rules in Kwame Kilpatrick’s favor this time around

Embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick remains free after facing the same judge on Tuesday who ordered him to jail last week on a bond violation. A Detroit news outlet had published a photo of Kilpatrick at his mother’s home at the same time that his sister visited the house, raising questions of whether his presence there violated court restrictions.  Get the latest details at BET.com/News.

Money for MLK Memorial pours in.

The money keeps on pouring in for the historic Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C. On Tuesday, organizers announced that donors, including $3 million from Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, had compelled them to raise the fundraising goal from $100 million to $120 million. Contributions for the memorial, which will be built on the National Mall, already has reached $99 million, according to Harry E. Johnson, Sr., president of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, the private group in charge of the effort. So why the new money goal? There are “a number of variables,” including changes in the structural plan, the addition of a bookstore and security costs as well as inflation for the rising cost estimate, Johnson says. After a stormy past few months over the design of the 28-foot statue of King, to be sculpted by Chinese artist Lei Yixin, the project appears on a positive track. Still, the project must win final approval for all aspects of the memorial site before construction can begin. The memorial is expected to take about 18-20 months to complete.

Muslim hate-crime victim leaves the hospital. The Muslim native of Uzbekistan, who was shot repeatedly while pumping gas at a Cleveland gas station, left the hospital Monday, nearly eight weeks after the tragic episode was captured on videotape. Police have been investigating the incident as a hate crime. As he left the MetroHealth Medical Center, 49-year-old Fazliddin Yakubov offered “a million, million thanks” for all the support he has received, The Plain Dealer newspaper reported Tuesday. He had been shot three times in the abdomen while his son was pumping gas. The video led to the arrest of 18-year-old William Neal of Cleveland, who’s charged with felonious assault and attempted murder. He’s being held in a Cuyahoga County jail on $250,000 bond.

Kwame Kilpatrick was jailed after an unauthorized trip

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is to be released from jail on Friday, but tethered to a monitoring device, according to the latest news reports. Despite his apologies to 36th District Court Judge Ronald Giles at a hearing on Thursday, Kilpatrick (seen above in booking photo) woke up in Wayne County Jail this morning after he made an unauthorized trip out of the country. The trip apparently was in violation of the conditions of his parole on purjury charges in connection with an affair the Detroit mayor allegedly had with a co-worker. However, now the so-called hip-hop mayor faces a whole new set of problems. Read more at BET.com/News. Should he have been sent to jail?

Prosecutor expected to issue more allegations against mayor

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is expected to add new counts of perjury and abuse of office to Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s long list of pending felony charges. The mayor and his ex-chief of staff Christine Beatty were both charged this spring with lying in court to cover up an extra-marital affair between them, and with disciplining two ex-cops whose investigation would’ve exposed the relationship. Both Kilpatrick and Beatty denied under oath having been romantically involved, and the prosecutor reportedly plans to argue that other statements Kilpatrick made about his faithfulness to his wife were untrue. It’s alleged that the mayor had affairs with at least two more women during the time that he denied having fired officers Gary Brown and Harold Nelthorp. The men were involved in an investigation of the mayor’s security detail, which allegedly helped Kilpatrick cover-up secret romances. Get more updates on Kwame Kilpatrick at BET.com!