DETROIT (AP) — A judge ordered Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to jail Thursday for violating the terms of his bond in his perjury case, a decision the judge said he would have made for any "John Six-Pack" defendant before him.
The mayor, who is accused of lying under oath in a civil case and faces eight felony counts, made a trip across the Detroit river to Windsor, Ontario, on city business last month without informing the court in advance, leading the county prosecutor's office to request Kilpatrick be punished.
Only minutes earlier, the mayor offered an apology to the court, telling District Court Judge Ronald Giles that for seven months, "I've been living in an incredible state of pressure and scrutiny."
But Giles sent the mayor to jail anyway, telling him he would have given any defendant the same treatment.
"What matters to me though 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," he said.
Circuit Court Judge Thomas E. Jackson said he wouldn't hear an appeal by Kilpatrick's lawyers until 9 a.m. Friday, meaning the mayor was to spend the night in jail.
The Detroit mayor's chief of staff, Kandia Milton — who was appointed deputy mayor six days ago — will run the city of 900,000 in Kilpatrick's absence, the mayor's office said in a statement.
City Council President Ken Cockrel Jr. agreed Kilpatrick could designate a member of his staff as acting mayor while he was in jail. Cockrel would succeed Kilpatrick if the mayor resigns or is forced from office.
Earlier Thursday, Kilpatrick waived his right to a preliminary hearing and will head to trial on perjury and other criminal charges that could land him in prison for up to 15 years.
Lawyers for the mayor and ex-Chief of Staff Christine Beatty asked Giles to waive next month's preliminary hearing. The criminal case now heads to Wayne County Circuit Court for trial.
Kilpatrick and Beatty are charged with perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice. They are accused of lying about having an intimate relationship and their roles in the firing of a police official.
Both deny the charges.
Controversy has surrounded Kilpatrick since his 2001 election. Embraced by many Detroit residents for his boldness and confidence, Kilpatrick, then 31, embodied the new black politician and wore a diamond stud earring that helped earn him the unofficial title as the "Hip-Hop Mayor."
Kilpatrick and Beatty denied under oath during a civil trial last year that they had a romantic relationship in 2002 and 2003.
But excerpts of sexually explicit text messages recovered from Beatty's city-issued pager and first published in January by the Free Press contradicted their testimony.
Giles asked the defendants during Thursday morning's hearing if they freely agreed to waive their rights to a preliminary exam and both said they did.
The judge then set a circuit court arraignment date of Aug. 14.
After the issue of the preliminary examination was concluded, Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Robert Moran then asked Giles to punish Kilpatrick over the trip to Canada.
The mayor went across the border last month to push the sale of the city's half of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.
Kilpatrick was required to alert the court of all travel plans.
Moran asked Giles to modify Kilpatrick's bond because of what he called a "flagrant" violation.
After a short recess, Kilpatrick stood and apologized to Giles, saying it wouldn't happen again.
The judge then ordered a recess and came back with his decision. Kilpatrick stared directly at the judge with his hands clasped near his face as Giles announced his decision.
Kilpatrick then stood up and, accompanied by a courtroom deputy, walked through a doorway behind the judge's chair. He was not handcuffed.
Wayne County sheriff's spokesman John Roach said the mayor would have his own cell "because he's a high-profile inmate. He will not be in the general population."
"I think it's the most extreme measure he can take," defense lawyer James Thomas said of Giles' ruling. "I don't agree with him."
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy praised the decision.
"I think it was most appropriate for Judge Giles to take action regarding Defendant Kilpatrick's bond considering his most recent behavior," she said in a written statement. "Judge Giles treated this defendant as any other defendant would have been treated."
Worthy charged Kilpatrick and Beatty less than two months after the Free Press published excerpts of the text messages. Fingerprinted with their booking photos broadcast across the country, the pair were accused of lying under oath about their relationship and about their roles in the firing of a police official.
More text messages released in April revealed the evolution of flirty and sexually explicit exchanges to professions of love and promises of marriage.
Kilpatrick and his high-priced team of attorneys have questioned the authenticity of those and other text messages, while fighting battles on several legal and political fronts.
A split city council voted in February to ask Kilpatrick to step down. The nine-member group later asked Gov. Jennifer Granholm to remove the mayor for misconduct and plans to hold forfeiture of office proceedings against him.
Shortly after Kilpatrick was ordered to jail, Gov. Jennifer Granholm postponed two Thursday afternoon events in Grand Rapids to hold "internal meetings."