Judge: Kilpatrick must scrimp to pay city back

[leland_palmer]

M.L. ELRICK • Free Press
http://freep.com/article/20090508/NE...+pay+city+back

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s bid to reduce his restitution payments to the City of Detroit were resoundingly rejected today, as a Wayne County Circuit judge ruled that Kilpatrick may have to live a less lavish lifestyle until his debt to Detroit is repaid.

“Although the court does not wish to impart an undue burden or hardship on defendant or his family, defendant must realize that he is convicted felon, and will have to balance meeting all of the conditions of his probation, including restitution payments, with a lifestyle in which he has grown accustomed,” Groner wrote in an apparent reference to the Cadillac Escalade Kilpatrick got after his release from jail and the 2,800-square-foot suburban home near Dallas, Tex.

“In other words,” Groner continued, Kilpatrick “may not be able to sustain an upper middle class existence while he still owes a debt to society and a substantial financial debt to the Citizens of Detroit."

From the News...

Kilpatrick's lawyer, Michael Alan Schwartz said, "When courts make mistakes, that's when we go to higher courts. Obviously we will take this to the court of appeals."

Good luck with that!