Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, desperate to stop a judge from forcing him to come up with $320,000 in special restitution payments, struck out Friday with a higher court and now faces a hearing on whether he violated probation.
The Michigan Court of Appeals said a Wayne County judge did not abuse his discretion when he ordered Kilpatrick to quickly come up with more money to reduce his $1 million restitution to Detroit, a debt that's part of his 2008 criminal case.
Kilpatrick's lawyer, Michael Alan Schwartz, said no further appeal is planned.
The former mayor failed to fully pay the first special installment -- $79,011 -- by Feb. 19 and was charged with violating his probation. The appeals court postponed his Feb. 26 arraignment, however, so it could examine the work of Judge David Groner.
Kilpatrick has said he can't afford the balloon payments.
His "contention that ability to pay is a factor in the determination regarding the amount of the restitution payment is without merit," Judge Karen Fort Hood said. "Rather, at the probation violation hearings, defendant can raise the issue of ability to pay."
Kilpatrick pleaded guilty in 2008 to misconduct tied to his lying under oath about an affair with a staff member in a whistle-blowers' lawsuit. He served 99 days in jail agreed to give up his law license and his political career and repay the city $1 million for settling an employment lawsuit related to his misdeeds.
He's making monthly payments of $3,000 while living in the Dallas area and working as a salesman for information-technology company Covisint. But prosecutors learned Kilpatrick and his wife have had other money, including $240,000 in loans, live in a rented mansion and drive fancy SUVs.
In a recent court filing, Kilpatrick co-counsel Daniel Hajji said the ex-mayor needs to live a certain lifestyle and can't dine on "burgers and beer at the local bar" when trying to close deals with "sophisticated clients."
Groner ordered additional payments totaling $320,000, much of it due in April, after finding that Kilpatrick was dishonest about his finances. Supporters have paid about $41,000.
Prosecutor Kym Worthy declined to comment on the appeals court's decision.
To prove a probation violation, Worthy's staff must show that Kilpatrick could have afforded the $79,011 payment last month, Schwartz said.
SOURCE: USA Today/AP
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