WWJ Exclusive: One-On-One With Attorney For Ex-Kilpatrick Aide

DETROIT (WWJ) - After his client copped a plea in the Detroit City Hall corruption scandal, WWJ's City Beat Reporter Vickie Thomas sat down to talk exclusively with the attorney for ex-mayor Kilpatrick's former top aide Derrick Miller.

Detroit attorney Byron Pitts says it was an agonizing decision for Miller, who pleaded guilty to bribery and tax evasion charges last week.

"He's acknowledged that he has made some mistakes," Miller said. "It's well known that Derrick Miller was one of the top city officials in terms of honesty and integrity in dealing with the community; there's hardly a bad word that's said about him. But, he's acknowledged that he has made some mistakes. He's owned up to those mistakes by the plea, and he's moving forward."

Pitts has declined to comment on Miller's involvement in a Detroit pension fund deal that could cost the city millions of dollars, saying that they just stand behind what's laid out in that plea agreement. No sentencing date has been set.

Pitts says Miller is looking at 41-51 months in prison, but those numbers -- he says -- are in dispute with the U.S. Attorneys' Office.

Read Vickie's City Beat blog.