academic punk
03-18-2005, 08:40 PM
Conn. Ex-Gov. Rowland Gets Year in Prison
One year is too good for this prick.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Former Gov. John G. Rowland was sentenced to a year in prison and four months' house arrest Friday for selling his office in a corruption scandal that destroyed his career as one of the Republican Party's brightest and fastest-rising stars. The judge imposed the sentence after Rowland pleaded for leniency and confessed he had lost his way morally and developed "a sense of entitlement and even arrogance."
"I let my pride get in my way," he told U.S. District Judge Peter C. Dorsey.
Rowland, 47, pleaded guilty in December to a corruption charge, admitting he sold his influence for more than $100,000 in trips to Las Vegas, vacations in Vermont and Florida, and improvements at his lakeside cottage. He resigned last summer amid a gathering drive to impeach him.
The judge cited Rowland's public service and his children in handing down the sentence, which was less than the 15 to 21 months called for in the plea bargain, and well short of the three years prosecutors said he deserved.
Rowland also must serve three years of probation, perform 300 hours of community service and pay an $82,000 fine. He was ordered to report to a federal prison in Ayer, Mass., on April 1, and could be released from prison after serving 10 months.
"Officials are expected to serve not his own interest or the interest of his friends, but the highest interest of the community," the judge said. "Gratuities were accepted as if they were his due."
After hearing the sentence, Rowland hugged his wife, Patty, who was sobbing, and his two daughters, who were also in tears. His wife mouthed to him, "It will be all right."
Rowland attorney William Dow called it a fair sentence.
"I'm pleased we had a judge as wise and sensitive and responsible as Judge Dorsey," he said.
Rowland becomes one of more than a dozen former governors to be sent to prison. Among those jailed in the past few years: Edward D. DiPrete of Rhode Island and Edwin Edwards of Louisiana.
In a written statement, Gov. M. Jodi Rell expressed sympathy for the state and Rowland's family.
"The John Rowland that stood in that courtroom today is not the John Rowland that I thought I knew," she said. "He's not the man the people of Connecticut thought they knew when they elected him governor three times.
"There is a pervasive sense of sadness about this almost surreal day," she said. "Sadness about talent wasted, lives ruined, achievements overshadowed."
Rowland was the boy wonder of Connecticut politics, sprinting through the ranks. He was a congressman at 27. He became the youngest governor in Connecticut history at 37.
Though a Republican in a heavily Democratic state, the charismatic Rowland enjoyed high approval ratings. President Bush (news - web sites) appointed him to White House advisory committees and affectionately called him "Johnny."
But federal prosecutors said Rowland ran a corrupt office, with aides steering state business to companies in exchange for cash, gold coins and expensive gifts. Rowland's former co-chief of staff, Peter Ellef, and state contractor William Tomasso are under indictment and could get up to 20 years in prison.
As the investigation against members of Rowland's administration unfolded, each week brought new and damaging information. He was forced to admit that contractors paid for his home improvements and that state employees bought him a hot tub. Memos revealed that he had accepted Cuban cigars from a state contractor for years.
Rowland's fate was ultimately sealed by $15,549 in gifts from Tomasso and $91,493 in free airfare from the charter company Key Air. Rowland stayed at Tomasso's homes in Florida and Vermont four times in 1998 and 2002. Tomasso and other contractors and state employees provided renovations for Rowland's cottage that included a cathedral ceiling, a heating system and gutter work.
A Key Air executive appealed to Rowland for tax help in 2001 or 2002, and eventually won a tax exemption from the governor.
Prosecutors had sought a harsher sentence than the plea agreement called for because they allege Rowland lied to a probation officer about his finances.
"He has corrupted the office of the governor as if he took a bag of cash in a dark alley," federal prosecutor Nora Dannehy told Dorsey. "He was corrupt. It was a six-year conspiracy to deprive this state of honest services."
Rowland was met at U.S. District Court in New Haven by about 100 protesters, some chanting, "shame on you." He said nothing as he made his way through a crowd of media and into the courthouse. He left through a garage at the back of the building without speaking to reporters.
One year is too good for this prick.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Former Gov. John G. Rowland was sentenced to a year in prison and four months' house arrest Friday for selling his office in a corruption scandal that destroyed his career as one of the Republican Party's brightest and fastest-rising stars. The judge imposed the sentence after Rowland pleaded for leniency and confessed he had lost his way morally and developed "a sense of entitlement and even arrogance."
"I let my pride get in my way," he told U.S. District Judge Peter C. Dorsey.
Rowland, 47, pleaded guilty in December to a corruption charge, admitting he sold his influence for more than $100,000 in trips to Las Vegas, vacations in Vermont and Florida, and improvements at his lakeside cottage. He resigned last summer amid a gathering drive to impeach him.
The judge cited Rowland's public service and his children in handing down the sentence, which was less than the 15 to 21 months called for in the plea bargain, and well short of the three years prosecutors said he deserved.
Rowland also must serve three years of probation, perform 300 hours of community service and pay an $82,000 fine. He was ordered to report to a federal prison in Ayer, Mass., on April 1, and could be released from prison after serving 10 months.
"Officials are expected to serve not his own interest or the interest of his friends, but the highest interest of the community," the judge said. "Gratuities were accepted as if they were his due."
After hearing the sentence, Rowland hugged his wife, Patty, who was sobbing, and his two daughters, who were also in tears. His wife mouthed to him, "It will be all right."
Rowland attorney William Dow called it a fair sentence.
"I'm pleased we had a judge as wise and sensitive and responsible as Judge Dorsey," he said.
Rowland becomes one of more than a dozen former governors to be sent to prison. Among those jailed in the past few years: Edward D. DiPrete of Rhode Island and Edwin Edwards of Louisiana.
In a written statement, Gov. M. Jodi Rell expressed sympathy for the state and Rowland's family.
"The John Rowland that stood in that courtroom today is not the John Rowland that I thought I knew," she said. "He's not the man the people of Connecticut thought they knew when they elected him governor three times.
"There is a pervasive sense of sadness about this almost surreal day," she said. "Sadness about talent wasted, lives ruined, achievements overshadowed."
Rowland was the boy wonder of Connecticut politics, sprinting through the ranks. He was a congressman at 27. He became the youngest governor in Connecticut history at 37.
Though a Republican in a heavily Democratic state, the charismatic Rowland enjoyed high approval ratings. President Bush (news - web sites) appointed him to White House advisory committees and affectionately called him "Johnny."
But federal prosecutors said Rowland ran a corrupt office, with aides steering state business to companies in exchange for cash, gold coins and expensive gifts. Rowland's former co-chief of staff, Peter Ellef, and state contractor William Tomasso are under indictment and could get up to 20 years in prison.
As the investigation against members of Rowland's administration unfolded, each week brought new and damaging information. He was forced to admit that contractors paid for his home improvements and that state employees bought him a hot tub. Memos revealed that he had accepted Cuban cigars from a state contractor for years.
Rowland's fate was ultimately sealed by $15,549 in gifts from Tomasso and $91,493 in free airfare from the charter company Key Air. Rowland stayed at Tomasso's homes in Florida and Vermont four times in 1998 and 2002. Tomasso and other contractors and state employees provided renovations for Rowland's cottage that included a cathedral ceiling, a heating system and gutter work.
A Key Air executive appealed to Rowland for tax help in 2001 or 2002, and eventually won a tax exemption from the governor.
Prosecutors had sought a harsher sentence than the plea agreement called for because they allege Rowland lied to a probation officer about his finances.
"He has corrupted the office of the governor as if he took a bag of cash in a dark alley," federal prosecutor Nora Dannehy told Dorsey. "He was corrupt. It was a six-year conspiracy to deprive this state of honest services."
Rowland was met at U.S. District Court in New Haven by about 100 protesters, some chanting, "shame on you." He said nothing as he made his way through a crowd of media and into the courthouse. He left through a garage at the back of the building without speaking to reporters.