Back in September, Christine Beatty refused a plea deal in the steamy text message scandal with former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. However, this morning the tearful former City of Detroit Chief of Staff admitted “she lied under oath” and has accepted a plea deal that includes jail time.
Under the deal, Beatty has pleaded guilty to two counts of felony obstruction of justice and has agreed to five years probation and will serve 120 days in Wayne County Jail. In addition Beatty must pay $100,000 in restitution to the city of Detroit which is to be paid during her five years probation. Beatty lied about have an adulterous affair with former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
Also Beatty will not be allowed to travel outside of the tri-county area during her probationary period. Beatty addressed the court concerning the text message scandal case and said: "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 impeded and obstruct the fair administration of justice." She continued, "I lied under oath of the civil deposition of the Brown and Nelthrope lawsuit.
Some of the messages the Mayor and Christine Beatty, his chief of staff sent to one another are:
"I'm madly in love with you," Kilpatrick wrote on Oct. 3, 2002.
"I hope you feel that way for a long time," Beatty answered. "In case you haven't noticed, I am madly in love with you, too!"
Other texts contain sexual content, like this exchange on April 8, 2003:
Beatty: "And, did you miss me, sexually?"
Kilpatrick: "Hell yeah! You couldn't tell. I want some more. Don't sleep!"
Members of the Detroit media immediately called for both Kwame Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty to step down. The number one urban adult contemporary radio station in Detroit, MIX 92.3 FM took an on-air radio poll and its phone lines were hot and website crowded with traffic. People were participating in a poll answering the question, will the sex, lies and text message scandal that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his chief of staff Christine Beatty tarnish the image of Detroit. 70% of the website visitors believe the Mayor and Beatty should step down; citing the fact that Ms. Beatty will no longer be effective in her job. Kilpatrick has since resigned and is currently serving a similar sentence in the Wayne County jail.
Beatty will be sentenced January 5 at 9AM. Her attorney Mike Morganroth told Local 4: “Under the circumstances, it was the appropriate thing.” Beatty had no comment as she left the courtroom.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy had originally offered Beatty a deal that included a 150 day jail sentence. Beatty rejected the offer, instead preferring to fight the text message scandal in court. However, the burden of seeing her partner in crime Kwame Kilpatrick already sentenced and serving time may have had an effect on Beatty’s decision to accept the plea.
"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."
Former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick> accepted a plea deal and began a 120-day jail sentence in October. In addition, Kilpatrick had to resign as mayor, spend five years on probation, pay $1 million to the city in restitution and surrender his law license.
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