Libby Must Go to Prison During Appeal, Judge Rules (Update1)
By Robert Schmidt and Nadine Elsibai
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aFKla95yxcR0&refer=usJune 14 (Bloomberg) -- Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby, an ex-aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, must go to prison while appealing his conviction for obstructing a CIA leak probe, a judge ruled.
A lawyer for Libby, 56, immediately said he would appeal the ruling by U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton in Washington. The judge's refusal to grant Libby's request for release during his appeal is sure to increase calls from his supporters for a pardon from President George W. Bush.
Libby was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison by Walton last week following his March 6 conviction of lying to investigators probing the 2003 leak of Central Intelligence Agency official Valerie Plame's identity. Libby was convicted of obstructing justice, perjury and making false statements. He resigned as Cheney's chief of staff upon being indicted in 2005.
``The evidence of guilt was overwhelming'' and arguments by Libby's lawyers today for release were ``not close,'' Walton said from the bench. The judge didn't specify when Libby must report to prison, though he said it may take six to eight weeks for the Bureau of Prisons to be prepared to take him.
At the start of the hearing, Walton said that after last week's sentencing, he received ``a number of harassing, angry, mean-spirited phone calls and letters'' including some that wished ``bad things on me and my family.''