Kilpatrick denied memoir profits

DETROIT, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- The Michigan Court of Appeals Tuesday denied former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's bid to retain profits from his memoir.

A judge earlier had ordered the money be placed in an escrow account. Tuesday's ruling means the funds can be used to pay off Kilpatrick's $860,000 restitution tab, the Detroit Free Press reported. The court said Kilpatrick's appeal was rejected "for lack of merit."

In a related case, U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds approved a second taxpayer-funded lawyer for Kilpatrick's father Bernard, who along with his son faces federal corruption charges, The Detroit News reported. In seeking additional counsel, lead attorney John Shea said the amount of material turned over by the prosecution following a five-year investigation was "overwhelming."

The former mayor also is being defended by taxpayer-funded counsel.

The Kilpatricks face federal racketeering conspiracy charges in what prosecutors described as an "audacious and far-reaching abuse of public trust."

Kilpatrick was forced to resign from office in 2008 after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice.