Time and again, Kwame Kilpatrick's exceptional oratory skills rallied Detroit voters to his side despite his frequent troubles as mayor.
But all his swagger and professions of love for family, God and the city failed to sway a judge Tuesday, who sent Kilpatrick to prison for up to five years for violating his probation stemming from his conviction for lying under oath about an affair with his chief of staff.
The former mayor's rehabilitation "clearly ... has failed," Wayne County Circuit Court Judge David Groner said before announcing his sentence.
"Frankly, your continued attempt to cast yourself as the victim, your lack of forthrightness, your lack of contriteness and your lack of humility serve to affirm that you have not learned your lesson," the judge said.
The criticism was some of the harshest leveled at the one-time Hip-Hop mayor and darling of Michigan's Democratic Party, who early on in his political career displayed the bravado and eloquence to talk his way out of politically thorny situations.
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