Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (D) is headed back to prison after violating his probation — a probation which stemmed from a conviction on a charge of lying under oath. The judge determined that Kilpatrick learned nothing from his original time in prison.

The former mayor’s rehabilitation “clearly … has failed,” Wayne County Circuit Court Judge David Groner said before announcing his sentence.

“Frankly, your continued attempt to cast yourself as the victim, your lack of forthrightness, your lack of contriteness and your lack of humility serve to affirm that you have not learned your lesson,” the judge said.

The criticism was some of the harshest leveled at the one-time hip-hop mayor and darling of Michigan’s Democratic Party, who early on in his political career displayed the bravado and eloquence to talk his way out of politically thorny situations.

Kilpatrick has a long history of corruption. He came under fire in his first term for improper usage of city credit cards and his wife’s use of a city-leased vehicle for personal reasons. He lied under oath during a whistleblower lawsuit trial, claiming he never had an affair with his chief of staff. Text messages between the two revealed he had lied.

(By the way, Kilpatrick was re-elected in 2005 with 53% of the vote. That probably says more about the lack of concern for Democratic corruption in Detroit than anything else.)

Kilpatrick was sentenced to be between 18 months and five years in prison for this probation violation. Right up to the sentencing announcement, the former mayor was playing the victim role.

“It’s hard to speak to some of the things that have been said about me,” he said. “Let me just start by saying, I’m a human being; a real live flesh and blood person. And often times when I read about myself, read about that person … I’m extraordinarily confused because it’s not me.”

Kilpatrick then asked the judge to send him home, apparently in the hope that Groner would be awed by his victim rhetoric and political celebrity. It didn’t work out so well for Kilpatrick.

The former mayor owes the city $1 million — part of his punishment for obstruction of justice. To date, he’s paid just $140,000 while lying to the court about his assets and violating other rules of his probation.