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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, August 8, 2008

Detroit judge tosses roving mayor into jail

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick listens to the judge order him to jail for leaving the country while out on bond on perjury charges.

CLARENCE TABB JR. | Associated Press

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DETROIT — Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was jailed yesterday for violating bond in his perjury case, his pleas for leniency rejected by a judge who would give the mayor no special treatment.

Kilpatrick, charged with allegedly lying at a civil trial about an affair with an aide, acknowledged that he made a mistake when he visited Windsor, Ontario, minutes away from Detroit, for city business last month without notifying the court. But District Judge Ronald Giles was not moved, saying he had to treat the mayor like any other defendant.

"What matters to me ... is how the court overall is perceived and how if it was not Kwame Kilpatrick sitting in that seat, if it was John Six-Pack sitting in that seat, what would I do? And that answer is simple," Giles said. It was a stunning outcome, exceeding even what prosecutors had sought.

Kilpatrick yesterday was given a green jumpsuit like other inmates. But officials said he would be given his own cell and have no direct contact with other inmates.

Kilpatrick said he dashed to Windsor to discuss the sale of Detroit's share of a tunnel between the U.S. and Canada.