Married Kwame Kilpatrick had an affair with Christine Beatty and served time behind bars on charges related to his position as Detroit’s mayor. (credit: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
UPDATED: 1/9/2013 11:10 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) — Pastor Corey Brooks is defending a controversial donation he made to the former mayor of Detroit, whose now on trial for alleged corruption.
Last year, Brooks famously camped out on top of a vacant motel on South Martin Luther King Drive to raise money for a new community center.
Now there’s an investigation into a $2,000 gift Brooks’ church made to former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick last month.
Kilpatrick–already convicted in one federal case–is required to report all cash gifts to his parole officer.
In an email to WWJ Newsradio 950 in Detroit, Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said Kilpatrick failed to report the money as income and not doing that could be a probation violation.
Pastor Brooks told us he helped the former mayor because Kilpatrick wrote a compelling letter, pleading for financial assistance.
Pastor Brooks told CBS 2′s Susanna Song that it was a decision made by the church leadership and he has no regrets.
“We’ve been giving since we’ve been in this community and we’re not going to stop giving,” he said. “We believe in redemption and believe in second chances. Everyone deserves an opportunity to be helped especially when they have wife and children, who have nothing to do with the crimes.”
