Mayor sentenced, quits in plea deal

Ending a seven-month political soap opera that consumed the city, Detroit Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick pleaded guilty Thursday to two felonies related to his affair with a top aide and resigned from office.

In an agreement with prosecutors, Kilpatrick, 38, pleaded guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice and will serve four months in jail. He also agreed to pay the city $1 million in restitution. He cannot hold public office during his five-year probation period, his law license will be revoked and he will give up his state pension.

Kenneth Cockrel Jr., the current City Council president and an 11-year veteran of the body, will become interim mayor.

Washington

Abramoff’s help earns reduced term

Jack Abramoff, the powerhouse Washington lobbyist who admitted running a wide-ranging corruption scheme that ensnared lawmakers, Capitol Hill aides and government officials, Thursday received a reduced sentence of four years in prison because of his cooperation with federal investigators.

Abramoff, 49, already has served nearly two years for his conviction in a Florida fraud case. The sentence Thursday by U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle means that the former Republican lobbyist will likely remain in prison until 2012.

More than a dozen people, including an Ohio congressman and a deputy Interior secretary, have been convicted in the Abramoff lobbying scandal, and Justice Department officials said the investigation is continuing.

Chicago

Jesse Jackson treated at hospital

The Rev. Jesse Jackson was being treated Thursday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago after falling ill.

Jackson told the Chicago Tribune during a morning telephone interview he had stomach pains, but the pains were subsiding. “I have high regard for these doctors,” Jackson said.

Doctors told him he has viral gastroenteritis but are conducting more tests, he said.