By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
LANSING, MI –
Governor Granholm says she respects the decision of a judge to send former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to prison for up to five years for shielding assets that could have helped pay his restitution.
"Well, it's a tough sentence, clearly," she says. "I think it sends a message to everyone that when you violate the law or you violate the terms of your supervision, the courts are going to take it seriously."
Granholm was presiding over a removal hearing in September of 2008 that ended abruptly when Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to perjury and relinquished the mayor's office.