If eight felony charges and an accusation of assault weren’t enough, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is going to jail today because he violated his travel bond in July with an unannounced trip to Canada. He was required by law to notify the court if he left the state or the country.

In the midst of all this controversy, it seems that the mayor is making it harder for himself. A simple call from the cell phone could have prevented this stint behind bars.

Kilpatrick made a plea in which he apologized for the violation and emphasized his respect for the judicial process saying his sons were tuning into the hearing.

The 36th District Judge Ronald Giles was not sympathetic this time, citing that fact that he let Kilpatrick off easy concerning an earlier travel bond on a trip to Texas. At that point, Judge Giles simply scolded him and tightened his travel restrictions.

This time, unless Kilpatrick can post a $75,000 bond or have one of his lawyers convince a Wayne County Circuit Judge to overturn the ruling, he will remain jailed “indefinitely.”

Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, are charged with multiple crimes, including perjury and obstruction of justice, and have cost the city $8.4 million in a settlement with two whistle-blower police officers. If convicted, both face a maximum of 15 years in prison.

It is unclear who is taking the mayor’s place if he ends up staying longer than a night in the Wayne County Jail. Anthony Adams, former deputy mayor, has moved to a position with the city’s water and sewage department, leaving the city with no clear second-in-command.

Kilpatrick’s lawyers will make an appeal to Wayne Circuit Judge Edward Ewell, who is chief judge of the criminal division.