Not even bankruptcy is enough to get Christine Beatty is off the hook for the nearly $85,000 in restitution she still owes the City of Detroit stemming from the text message scandal involving her former lover, ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
Or so says the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office says in light of news that Kilpatrick’s former chief of staff and mistress has filed for bankruptcy in Georgia.
“Beatty’s restitution is not dis-chargeable in bankruptcy, so it really has no impact on her case in Wayne County,” said Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Maria Miller.
Beatty and the married Kilpatrick both served jail sentences for lying in court about an affair following the text-messaging sex scandal. A federal corruption trial for Kilpatrick is ongoing in Detroit.
According to court records, Beatty, who resettled in Georgia following the text message scandal, is nearly $400,000 in debt.
She owes $60,000 in federal taxes, roughly $220,000 in mortgage debt, various medical bills, and a $95 parking ticket in Dallas, which is a 20-mile drive from Kilpatrick’s suburban home. Court records do not show when or exactly where the parking ticket was issued, but Beatty’s attorney insisted that she was not visiting the disgraced former mayor.
According to Beatty’s Oct. 26 bankruptcy filing, 2012 has been a rough year. The self-employed consultant has made $34,300 so far this year, a dramatic drop from the $102,250 she made in 2011, and the nearly $77,000 she made in 2010, records show.
In her court filing, Beatty lists few assets, including:
– A checking account with a zero balance.
– $500 worth of clothing.
– $250 worth of jewelry.
– $2,200 in household goods.
– 2011 Ford Explorer with 74,000 miles on it. She still owes $28,150 on it.
Beatty’s attorney Janel Bowles was unavailable for comment.
In 2008, Beatty pleaded guilty to two felony obstruction of justice charges after the Free Press published text messages that showed she lied under oath about her affair with Kilpatrick during a police whistle-blower trial.
As part of her plea deal, she served 120 days in jail and agreed to pay $100,000 restitution to Detroit. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, her last $500 monthly payment was received Nov. 5.
As of Nov. 30, she owed $84,816.80.
Kilpatrick is currently in worse straits as his corruption trial is set to begin in September. The former mayor, his father and a third man are accused of extortion, bribery and other crimes.
A businessman who held contracts at Detroit’s convention center said Monday that he personally delivered thousands of dollars in cash to Kilpatrick.
Karl Kado told jurors that he passed $5,000 to $10,000 to Kilpatrick “three or four times.” He says he also delivered money through a Kilpatrick aide and separately paid $200,000 to $300,000 to Kilpatrick’s father, Bernard.
Kado, who will be a key witness at the corruption trial, says he felt like a “hostage” and had to pay to keep his work at Cobo Center.
