Christine Beatty, the former chief of staff for convicted Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, rejected a plea deal this week that included jail time and will head to trial on a number of felonies stemming from charges she and Kilpatrick lied under oath during a whistleblower’s trial last year.
Beatty’s decision to turn down a plea deal from Wayne County prosecutors that included 150 days in jail comes a week after Kilpatrick pled guilty to a set of similar charges. Kilpatrick’s last day in office is Thursday. City Council President Ken Cockrel Jr. is acting as mayor until a special election is held. Kilpatrick is due to be sentenced Oct. 28.
Beatty faces a total of seven felonies, including perjury, obstruction of justice, misconduct in office, and conspiracy.
When Beatty did not immediately agree to an original plea deal offering 60 days in jail, prosecutors increased the jail time to 150 days. Her attorneys rejected the plea deal after more than two hours of negotiations with prosecutors Monday morning. She also would have pled guilty to two felonies, and served five years of probation.
Beatty will head to trial within 90 days and now faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Kilpatrick’s plea deal includes 120 days in jail, five years of probation, and paying $5 million in restitution to the city. He also agreed not to run for public office while on probation — though in a press conference made the evening after his guilty plea, he told Detroit he was already poised for a comeback.
