DETROIT’s EX-MAYOR JAILED FOR 4 MONTHS

// October 29th, 2008 // Hott Look@Politics

time for personal introspection

“You could see the pain and disappointment in his eyes”

A judge sentenced former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to four months in jail Tuesday for a sex-and-text scandal, calling him “arrogant and defiant” and questioning the sincerity of a guilty plea that ended his career at City Hall.

By John Charles Reedburg

Honestly folks. Was justice really served?

Disgraced former Mayor KWAME KILPATRICK is hungry — hungry for personal introspection; hungry to learn, explore and understand the teachings of the Bible, and hungry for the opportunity to decide what he should do with his life after he is released from jail, associates say.

In the weeks and days leading up to his incarceration Tuesday, Kilpatrick reached out to family, friends and political allies for advice, pep talks and prayer marathons. He made surprise visits to friends to express appreciation. And he spent a lot of time with his family, particularly his three boys.

Kilpatrick told associates he understood the magnitude of spending four months behind bars, but he also admitted he was anxious about his stay.

“At this point he doesn’t really know what that experience is going to be like. I don’t think anybody can be prepared for living 23 hours alone in a small room — no matter what his faith is,” the Rev. Horace Sheffield III, pastor of New Galilee Missionary Baptist Church and a Kilpatrick adviser, said Tuesday. “But he’s just refused to be broken.”

Minister Malik Shabazz, a member of the Unify Detroit Coalition and leader of the New Black Panthers, said the Kilpatricks stopped by his Detroit headquarters unannounced in recent weeks.

“You could see the pain and disappointment in his eyes, but he’s an eternally optimistic kind of guy,” he said.

“He hugged me, kissed me, we prayed and he told me to keep my spirits up,” Shabazz said. “I was feeling worse for them than they seemed to be feeling.”

Before his sentencing, Kilpatrick was living with his family at a restored 1920s hotel that was turned into condos in Detroit. The family has an extra large unit created from two smaller ones, according to neighbors.

Shabazz said Kilpatrick intentionally kept a low-profile presence — his priority was his family. “He just wanted to spend time loving them, healing and repairing,” he said.