One down, oh, so, so, so many of these crooks and liars to go…
SAN DIEGO – Former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham was taken into custody Friday after being sentenced to eight years and four months in federal prison and ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution for accepting bribes from defense contractors.
Prosecutors had sought a 10-year sentence for Cunningham, the maximum available under his plea agreement. His lawyers asked for six years.
U.S. District Judge Larry Alan Burns sentenced Cunningham to 60 months and 40 months in prison on two counts, the sentences to run consecutively. Burns also ordered Cunningham to repay $1.8 million.
Before Burns passed sentence, Cunningham told the judge that “after years of service, I made a very wrong turn. Your honor, no man has ever been so sorry.
“I did it to myself,” Cunningham said. “I could have said no and I didn’t. It was me.”
Deputy U.S. marshals led Cunningham away immediately after the hearing. He was to be held at the nearby Metropolitan Correctional Center downtown pending a medical evaluation. After that, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons would decide where Cunningham was to serve out his sentence.
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