Detroit to get Kilpatrick's book proceeds

DETROIT, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Any money former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick makes from his upcoming memoirs must be used to pay $1 million in restitution to the city, a judge said.

In a ruling Wednesday, Wayne County Circuit Judge David Groner refused to reverse his June ruling that the proceeds from "Surrendered: The Rise, Fall & Revelation of Kwame Kilpatrick" must go into an escrow account, the Detroit Free Press reported. Groner disagreed with Kilpatrick's claim that denying him royalties violates his rights under the First Amendment.

"This just seems to be the regular practice of this judge," Dan Hajji, Kilpatrick's lawyer, said. "He ignores court rules, procedures and the Constitution."

Kilpatrick, who faces federal corruption charges, was recently released from prison after serving a Michigan sentence for violation of probation. In 2008, when he pleaded guilty to perjury, he agreed pay $1 million restitution to Detroit in exchange for a short jail term.