DETROIT – Embattled former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's mother helped him pay $500 in restitution to the city, according to a Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman.
Kilpatrick has had trouble making recent payments to the more than $800,000 he owes in restitution for a text-messaging scandal.
Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said U.S. Rep Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick made the payment on Wednesday.
Kilpatrick was late on a payment in November.
For months at the federal corruption trial, the court heard from witnesses such as Emma Bell, who said she paid $200,000 in kickbacks to Kwame Kilpatrick, mostly in hundred dollar bills. Mahon Clift said Bobby Ferguson gave him stacks of hundred dollar bills -- $90,000 worth. Clift told the jury he delivered them to Kilpatrick.
However, Kilpatrick still doesn't have the money to pay the $500 in restitution each month. The first time he was late, the parole department put him on a tether and refused to let him go to his Texas home for his son's birthday.
Read more: Kilpatrick: 'I know it is open season on Kwame Kilpatrick'
The next month, Kilpatrick was spotted on camera at a Walmart cashing in a $2,000 gift from a Chicago pastor -- $500 went to restitution.
When he failed to let his parole agent know about the gift he spent the weekend in jail.
Read more: Kwame Kilpatrick is broke, according to parole reports