Robert Coughlin: SENTENCING DATE SET

Robert Coughlin is a former Justice Department official who pled guilty to violating a conflict-of-interest statute related to the Abramoff scandal. He admitted accepting gifts from Team Abramoff in return for performing official acts. A status conference is scheduled later this week in the case of USA vs. Robert Coughlin. As a status conference approaches in these kinds of cases, the prosecution and defense typically file a Joint Motion to Continue. This means that the case isn't ready for sentencing and asks the judge to revisit the matter in 90 days. The DoJ and Mr. Coughlin's attorney, Joshua Berman,¹ didn't ask the Court to revisit the case in three months. Both sides asked US District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle to schedule an actual sentencing date: November 24, 2009.

From the Joint Motion to Adjourn Status Conference and Set Sentencing Date:

1. On April 22, 2008, Robert Coughlin appeared before Your Honor and pled guilty to a one-count Information in the above-captioned case. Because Mr. Coughlin was cooperating in the investigation of others, including Kevin A. Ring, Your Honor scheduled a status conference in lieu of a sentencing date, for September 18, 2008.

2. On September 5, 2008, the federal grand jury for the District of Columbia indicted Kevin Ring on ten counts, in Case No. 08-274. Mr. Ring was arraigned on September 8, 2008. Trial currently is set in that matter to begin on September 9, 2009 before Your Honor.

[...]

4. Mr. Coughlin's cooperation in the prosecution of Mr. Ring is continuing. In light of the September 9, 2009 trial date in the Ring matter and the fact that Mr. Coughlin resides out of state, the parties jointly request that the status conference in Mr. Coughlin's case be adjourned. The parties also believe that another status date is unnecessary and that this matter can be set for sentencing, to occur after the conclusion of the Ring trial.

After reading this document, it appears that Mr. Coughlin's cooperation almost solely related to the prosecution of Mr. Ring. Yes, paragraph 1 mentions that Mr. Coughlin was cooperating in the investigation of "others" (plural), and we don't doubt that Mr. Coughlin did help prosecutors understand the roles of people other than Mr. Ring. We just believe that Mr. Ring was the primary subject of Mr. Coughlin's cooperation.

It appears that Mr. Coughlin has held himself accountable for his actions and has assisted investigators to the satisfaction of the Justice Department. Kudos to Mr. Coughlin.

Let's compare and contrast Mr. Coughlin's Joint Motion to Set Sentencing Date to John Albaugh's Joint Motion to Continue Status Conference that we reviewed yesterday:

Similarities: Messrs. Coughlin and Albaugh both appear to be cooperating to the satisfaction of the Justice Department. The cooperation of both men seems to be almost wholly related to Mr. Ring's prosecution.

Differences: Lawyers are asking for a hard sentencing date for Mr. Coughlin. The parties in Mr. Albaugh's case didn't ask for a sentencing date, but strongly suggested that Mr. Albaugh's cooperation will conclude by "late-2009". Presumably, Mr. Albaugh's sentencing could be completed shortly thereafter.

Why are the two men being treated differently? The ACR Blog can't answer that question. Given that the DoJ wants to move forward with Mr. Coughlin's sentencing, though, our speculation yesterday that Mr. Albaugh's cooperation is nearing its end appears more likely to be accurate.

The ACR Blog believes that the events of the past two days augur well for former Rep. Ernest Istook (a.k.a. Representative 4) for the reasons I mentioned yesterday.

For those holding out that former Rep. Istook will be held legally accountable, remember that National Journal reporter Peter Stone interviewed two sources familiar with the investigation who told him to expect a plea or indictment of a "bigger fish" early this summer. Early summer has ended, and we haven't seen a plea or indictment. The ACR Blog believes the only way former Rep. Istook will be convicted is if he is that "bigger fish". It is more likely, though, that Rep. Istook is off the hook.

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¹ As an interesting aside, Joshua Berman is the only lawyer we know of to represent two Abramoff scandal figures. In addition to representing Mr. Coughlin, Mr. Berman is also the lawyer for Kevin Koonce, a former aide to former New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg.