Ex-aide gets jail in Detroit sex scandal

DETROIT - Nearly a year after headlines revealed a City Hall sex scandal, the former top aide to former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was sent to jail yesterday to serve the same punishment as her boss: 120 days with time shaved for good behavior.

Christine Beatty agreed to the sentence when she pleaded guilty in December to obstruction of justice. Wayne County Circuit Judge Timothy Kenny made it official at a court hearing.

Beatty also must pay $100,000 to the city and cannot attend law school while on probation for five years. Beatty declined an opportunity to speak in court.

Kenny praised Beatty for her "dignified" conduct in court appearances but he also criticized her and her former boss.

"I do think that this case does represent the triumph of truth over political power and might and it also indicates, I think, that lying under oath in court has a price tag, even for those who are the politically elite within the community," the judge said.

Beatty's attorney, Mayer Morganroth, said she could be out of jail in around 70 days if she gets credit for good behavior and participates in certain jail programs. As for the restitution, Morganroth said Beatty had "$6 and some change" in a bank account.

Beatty and Kilpatrick, both 38, were charged with lying about their affair during a 2007 civil trial that centered on allegations of retaliation against high-ranking police officers who suspected wrongdoing in the mayor's inner circle.

The officers won their case. City Council approved payment of a multimillion-dollar settlement with the officers.

ASSOCIATED PRESS