Sunday, December 14, 2014

Former VA Governor Bob McDonnell Could Face Ten Years In Prison

Well, well, well:
The matter is far from settled. The probation office recommended a punishment from 10 years and a month to 12 years and 7 months. Calculating an appropriate range of sentences in the federal system is a complicated, mathematical process that takes into account a variety of factors, including the type of crime, the defendant’s role and the amount of loss. The judge has yet to see the arguments from each side.

McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were convicted in September of lending the prestige of his office to Richmond businessman Jonnie R. Williams Sr. in exchange for $177,000 in loans, vacations and luxury items.

McDonnell is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 6. His wife’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 20, and her guideline range is expected to be lower than her husband’s. The probation office has not yet filed a report concerning her.

[...]

The range is particularly notable because last December, prosecutors offered to let McDonnell plead guilty to just one count of lying to a bank as part of an agreement that would have meant he could be sentenced to three years in prison at the most and probation at the least. Importantly, though, McDonnell would have been required to sign a statement acknowledging that he helped Star Scientific, Williams’s dietary-supplement company, at the same time the businessman was giving him loot, fully shouldering blame for a relationship he has insisted was not criminal and was driven largely by his wife.
It is no great leap of logic to connect this to the way that Scott Walker, the Teapublicans and their dark money overlords are fighting so hard to kill John Doe.

Isn't that enough to make one wistfully dream what Wisconsin would be like if we had a legal system - both on the state and federal level - that wasn't so damn corrupted.

H/T to Crooks and Liars

2 comments:

  1. I would suggest that we save the hardworking taxpayers by have McDonnell and Walker share a jail cell.

    ReplyDelete
  2. But not at some minimum security federal facility where white-collar crooks like McDonnell and Walker tend to serve their time.

    ReplyDelete