Kilpatrick Arraigned On Federal Charges
Wearing a bright orange jump suit and chained at the ankles, former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick returned to court Tuesday to answer to a 19-count federal indictment. Kilpatrick pled not guilty to fraud charges and said he could not afford his own lawyer. WWJ and Fox 2 legal analyst Charlie Langton says the court will appoint an attorney, and the former mayor will go back to prison for now.
"So, they will do now is take him to a federal prison, and he will await the next phase of the federal trial," Langton said.
"Probably there will be some kind of pre-trial, or a couple procedural matters coming up in the near future. But, the bottom line here, is that Kwame Kilpatrick chose to stay in a federal prison, as opposed to going back to state prison," he said.
Kilpatrick is charged with tapping his charity the Civic Fund for cash and personal luxuries while he was mayor and not reporting it on his tax returns.
He has been serving time at a state prison for violating probation in a different criminal case.
(Copyright 2010 WWJ. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report)
