Three months after former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s guilty plea, his former mistress and mayoral chief of staff, Christine Beatty, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice December 1 relating to the text-message scandal also involving Kilpatrick.

Beatty and Kilpatrick’s legal woes began in January when the Detroit Free Press published incriminating text-messages between the two public officials showing they had been romantically involved - a relationship they lied about under oath in a lawsuit that threatened to expose their extramarital romance.

According to a Detroit Free Press video, Beatty told the court: “I lied under oath in the case of Gary Brown and Harold Nelthrope versus the City of Detroit. I did so with the intent to mislead the court and jury and to impede and obstruct the fair administration of justice.” Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers, who was one Kilpatrick’s staunchest defender on the council, told freep.com that she believes Beatty is sorry for what she did.

In accordance with the plea deal, Beatty, 38, will be sentenced January 5 to serve four months in jail, pay US$100,000 in restitution to the City of Detroit and serve five years’ probation for her role in obstructing justice by lying in a police whistle-blower lawsuit, which cost the city $8.4 million.

Kilpatrick, who pleaded guilty in September to two felony charges of obstructing justice in the same scandal, began serving four months jail sentence in October. As part of his plea bargain, Kilpatrick was ordered to pay $1 million to the City of Detroit and turn over his pension. His law license was also revoked.