Horace Cooper -- GUILTY
On Thursday, July 1, U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle sentenced Abramoff scandal figure Horace Cooper for the misdemeanor charge of "Making and Using a False Certificate or Writing".
According to the Judgment filed last week, Mr. Cooper was sentenced to:
3 Years Probation
$500 fine
$25 special assessment
300 Hours Community Service
Judge Huvelle determined that Mr. Cooper did not have the "ability" to pay interest on the $500 fine and waived the interest requirement.
2 comments:
sounds like Judge Huvelle is teeing up Ring to get off- and that DOJ is still on another planet.
Judge Postpones Second Ring Trial After Supreme Court Ruling
July 6, 2010, 5:10 p.m.
By Jennifer Yachnin
Roll Call Staff
A U.S. District judge on Tuesday postponed the retrial of former House-aide-turned-lobbyist Kevin Ring until October, citing a recent Supreme Court ruling that narrowed the scope of a public corruption statute.
“Skilling has made a difference,” Judge Ellen Huvelle said at a status hearing on the case, referring to the Supreme Court’s decision last month limiting the use of a public corruption statute known as the “honest services” law to only those cases involving bribery or kickback schemes. Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, who was charged under the law, had argued that the statute was too vague.
Federal prosecutors had relied heavily on that law in their influence-peddling investigation of Ring’s former boss, disgraced ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, in part because it provided more legal flexibility than the rigid requirements of charges such as bribery.
Federal prosecutor Peter Koski told Huvelle that the Justice Department does not plan to drop any of the eight charges it has filed against Ring, including five counts of honest services fraud.
“The Skilling opinion has no impact whatsoever on this case,” Koski said.
But Huvelle told federal prosecutors that the government needs to explicitly define the official acts it alleges Ring sought, stating that such acts must now fall under a strict definition.
“This is not the same arena we were in before,” Huvelle said. She ordered government prosecutors to outline “what official acts were the result of bribery, who did they target to do what” in documents due later this month.
Huvelle also ordered Ring’s defense team to file a new motion for acquittal.
I agree with the guy above - $500 is nothing. Fines should hurt!
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