Former GOP House Leader Tom Delay is (R-tard) Going to Prison for Conspiracy and Money Laundering. Yet Another criminal Republican, and a horrible dancer on DWTS, is put behind bars.
DeLay Sentenced to 3 Years in Conspiracy and Money-Laundering Case By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr. Published: January 10, 2011 AUSTIN, Tex. — Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader, was sentenced to three years in prison on Monday for money laundering and conspiracy stemming from his role in a scheme to channel corporate contributions to Texas state races in 2002. Mr. DeLay, once one of the most powerful and polemical Republican congressmen in the state, was ushered out of Travis County Court after the sentencing and was taken by sheriff’s deputies to the county jail. He later posted a $10,000 bond and was released pending an appeal, his lawyers said. After listening to Mr. DeLay say he felt he had done nothing wrong, Judge Pat Priest sentenced him to three years in prison for the conspiracy count and 10 years of probation for the money laundering count. The judge rejected arguments from Mr. DeLay that the trial had been a politically motivated vendetta mounted by an overzealous Democratic district attorney. “Before there were Republicans and Democrats, there was America, and what America is about is the rule of law,” the judge said just before pronouncing the sentence. In November, a jury convicted Mr. DeLay in an unusual trial. It was the first time the money-laundering law had been used in Texas against a politician accused of circumventing the state ban on corporate money. The evidence at the trial showed that Mr. DeLay and two associates channeled $190,000 in corporate donations in 2002 to several Republican candidates for the Legislature, using the Republican National Committee as a conduit. Texas bans corporations from giving directly to political campaigns. The donations were seen as critical in the Republican takeover of the Legislature that year. Once they had control, state Republican leaders pushed through a controversial Congressional redistricting plan — engineered by Mr. DeLay — that sent more Republicans to Congress in 2004 and helped to consolidate his power in Washington. Before his sentencing, Mr. DeLay said he was perplexed about how the criminal code could be applied to what he had done. The practice of swapping corporate contributions given to state committees for individual contributions given to national parties was commonplace in 2002, he said. “I never intended to break the law — I have always played by the rules,” he told the judge. “I cannot be remorseful for something I didn’t think I did.” Mr. DeLay’s lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, said he expected the convictions to be overturned on appeal. The appeal will argue, among other things, that the money-laundering law should not apply to the transactions, since the money did not come from an illegal activity. The Travis County district attorney, Rosemary Lehmberg, denied that the prosecution was a form of political payback. Testifying on Mr. DeLay’s behalf, former Representative J. Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican who was House speaker from 1999 to 2006, said Mr. DeLay was not power-hungry, but was driven by a deep-seated need to help others. In the House, Mr. DeLay was known as the Hammer for his no-holds-barred style of politicking and campaigning. He was serving as the majority whip in 2002, marshaling the Republicans to support President George W. Bush at a time when the party had a thin majority. Mr. DeLay offered no apologies for having succeeded in doing just that. He had played by the rules as he understood them, he said, and had fought only for his conservative values and not for personal gain. For this, he said, prosecutors had hurt him and his family. “This criminalization of politics is very dangerous, very dangerous to our system,” he said. “It’s not enough to ruin your reputation. They have to put you in jail, bankrupt you, destroy your family.” More: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/us/politics/11delay.html?partner=rss&emc=rss After a month-long trial in November, a jury determined that he conspired with two associates to use his Texas-based political action committee to send $190,000 in corporate money to an arm of the Washington-based Republican National Committee. The RNC then sent the same amount to seven Texas House candidates. Under Texas law, corporate money can't go directly to political campaigns. Prosecutors claim the money helped Republicans take control of the Texas House. That enabled the Republican majority to push through a Delay-engineered congressional redistricting plan that sent more Texas Republicans to Congress in 2004, strengthening DeLay's political power. DeLay contended the charges were politically motivated and the money swap in question was legal. DeGuerin says DeLay committed no crime and believes the convictions will be overturned on appeal. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41006570/ns/politics-more_politics/?GT1=43001 -- Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time. Have a great day, Tommy -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
