Ex-Senate aide is sentenced in Abramoff case

[TacticalPeek]

Source: Washington Post

Ex-Senate aide is sentenced in Abramoff case

By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 6, 2011

A longtime former aide to Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) was sentenced Wednesday to 75 days in a halfway house and 75 days of home detention for trading legislative favors for more than $25,000 in tickets and gifts from the firm of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Ann Copland pleaded guilty in March 2009 to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud before U.S. District Judge Richard W. Roberts of the District, acknowledging that she sought to abuse the public trust by manipulating spending legislation for Abramoff and his clients from 2002 to 2004.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/05/AR2011010506354.html

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Barely a peep in any media about this corruption in the highest places stuff, naturally.

[karynnj]

1. How can an aide trade legislative favors without the Senator being the one who actually did it?

I don't understand.

[DCKit]

2. He was the facilitator.

Before anyone starts squawking about the easy sentence, remember that he cooperated in the investigation and brought down some really bad characters.

If there's any failure here, it's the FBI's and DOJ's for failure to prosecute more fully the rest of the bad actors.

[karynnj]

3. Do you mean "she" ?

or do you mean Senator Cochran facilitated it - who is now a top Republican on the Appropriations Committee?

[DCKit]

4. I concede the point, and agree.

Why isn't Kent Conrad in some backwater penitentiary?

The double standard (R punishment vs. D PUNISHMENT) is glaring.

[karynnj]

5. You confused me again - what does Kent Conrad have to do with this?

Googling, I find that former Senator Conrad Burns (R, MT) was involved, but I didn't seen anything that linked Kent Conrad.

I did find why the aide was indicted - she accepted $25,000 worth of stuff to get Cochran to sign a letter and add stuff to legislation. Maybe they couldn't find any corrupt reason for the Senator doing it.

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20110106/NEWS01/101060328/Ex-Cochran-aide-sentenced-to-halfway-house-home-detention

[DCKit]

6. I concede the point and agree.

Jimmy Stewart deserves a life sentence for his part in this abomination.

[leveymg]

7. Another small fry simmering in the pot, while Rove and Bush were allowed to walk.

Ain't American justice grand?