DETROIT – Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick says he can't afford to make his restitution payments.
Just last week, Kilpatrick said he was going to have to "scale back" on the way he was used to living to be able to make the payments.
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On Jan. 20, after a six-day hearing, Wayne County Judge David Groner ordered Kilpatrick to make a lump sum payment of $79,000 within 30 days and another payment of $240,000 within 90 days.
"This motion is being brought as 'emergency' because the defendant has as of yet not been able to come up with the amount of restitution the court has recently imposed and is unlikely to do so within the time allowed by the court," the motion filed by Kilpatrick's Farmington Hills-based attorney Daniel Hajji stated.
Kilpatrick attorney Michael Schwartz said "We're asking the judge to reconsider what he has ordered."
Schwartz said Judge Groner's ruling was "a clearly erroneous ruling which does not meet the requirements of the law."
Earlier this month, the Michigan Court of Appeals denied Kilpatrick's appeal to stop a judge from ordering large payments.
Download: Kilpatrick Files Motion For Restitution Reconsideration
The motion goes on to say that the payments would cause hardship for Kilpatrick and his family by impeding his ability to "earn income and support his children."
Attorney David Griem, who is not connected to the case, said Kilpatrick's argument seems to be that he should not be held responsible for money he had in the past.
"Despite the fact that he had hundreds of thousands of dollars go through his accounts, his position is, 'That's past history', and today he can't come up with the money ordered by the court," Griem said.
Kilpatrick had agreed to pay $1 million in restitution in late 2008 as part of pleas in two criminal cases, but later requested that his monthly payments be reduced.
Kilpatrick fulfilled a requirement to pay $36,000 during the six months after his jail release. But when his base pay at Texas-based Covisint dropped from $20,000 to $10,000 per month, Kilpatrick began to make $3,000 payments based on 30 percent of his income, something Kilpatrick's lawyer, Michael Alan Schwartz, argued was part of Groner's earlier order.
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Prosecutors have argued in court that Kilpatrick is hiding his true wealth, living a lavish lifestyle in his new Southlake, Texas, home.
He's making monthly payments of $3,000 while living in the Dallas area and working as a salesman for information-technology company Covisint.
But prosecutors learned Kilpatrick and his wife have had other money, including $240,000 in loans, live in a rented mansion and drive fancy SUVs.
Local 4 Defenders went to Texas several months ago and videotaped the lifestyle Kilpatrick was living.
During the hearings, prosecutors presented financial information from various accounts held by Kilpatrick and his wife, Carlita. They accused him of hiding assets by moving large sums from bank accounts bearing his name to those under his wife's name.
"I have my account. I give money to my wife. I don't know where that money goes," he said in November.
Groner ruled that Kilpatrick has to pay 30 percent of two $50,000 gifts paid to his wife, Carlita, and the couple's three sons. He has 30 days to come up with that $19,500.
The judge also ordered Kilpatrick to repay $36,142 in moving expenses paid by the Kilpatrick Civic Fund within 30 days; $23,369 from his tax refund within 30 days; and a $240,000 loan from four business executives within 90 days.
Local 4 Defender Kevin Dietz returned to Texas since Kilpatrick talked about his "scaling back". Local 4 undercover cameras found a few things a little different. The Kilpatricks were driving a pickup truck this time around, not the luxury Cadillac Escalade they had been driving. They are still living in the mansion, although the lease expires June 30.
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