Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick promised supporters he would not succumb to prosecutors' efforts to remove him from office, stating he is only guilty of "having mad game," the Associated Press reported Friday.
Kilpatrick appealed to crowds gathered Friday night in Detroit's Joe Louis Arena.
In his speech he pledged to fight against prosecutors, stating they were clearly jealous of his "skills with the ladies."
The investigation that stemmed from the Detroit Free Press' discovery of 14,000 text messages between Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty, his former chief of staff, led to charges of perjury, conspiracy and sexual intercourse in a public place.
At the rally, Kilpatrick addressed the possibility of spending the next 15 years in prison.
"That's only one day locked up for every two and a half text messages," he said. "The punishment doesn't fit the crime."
-KRISTOPH CORTELLE