LANSING, Mich., July 19 (UPI) -- A lawyer for Kwame Kilpatrick argued Tuesday the former Detroit Mayor should not be fined for using campaign funds to pay his legal expenses.
Kilpatrick, who is in state prison on a probation violation charge, was not at the hearing at the Secretary of State's Office in Lansing, the Detroit Free Press reported. His lawyer quoted Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy to argue that Kilpatrick's perjury in a lawsuit against the city was related to his official duties.
"This case was about as far from being a private matter as one can get," Worthy said in 2008. "Honesty and integrity in the justice system is everything. That is what this case is about."
On Monday, Kilpatrick was named in two civil suits, The Detroit News reported. In one, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette asked a court to order Kilpatrick to repay state taxpayers for the cost of keeping him in prison, using money he makes from his upcoming memoir.
In the other, Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Anthony V. Marrocco sued Kilpatrick and several co-defendants in a federal corruption case on behalf of the Macomb Interceptor Drain Drainage District. Marrocco said the county was overcharged for sewer repairs.
