as a sentence for corruption by way of taking bribes and being a greedy SOB in a position of power.
Yes, William Jefferson, recently Congressman of New Orleans, LA. and he of the cold, hard cash found in his freezer was convicted in U.S. District Court. The judge in the case, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III said public corruption was "a cancer on the body politic." RAMEN, Sir. That it is.
Politicians, be they from the well known Party of Greed (R's) or the Party of Insurance Corporations (D's - Blue Dog) have been feeding at the public trough ever since people gathered into communities and began electing representatives in Democracies throughout history. It sure is nice to see them get taken down once in awhile when their feeding becomes complete gluttony and exposes them as obvious law breakers and just plain rotten representatives of the People. Sure, guys like Tom DeLay are still Dancing with teh Starz instead of doing time, and that isn't fair in a fair world, but who ever said this world WAS fair?
From AP:
Corruption lands ex-Louisiana congressman 13 years
Prosecutors called a former Louisiana congressman's corruption the most extensive in the history of Congress. His punishment delivered a similar message.
William Jefferson, who famously hid $90,000 cash in his freezer, was sentenced Friday to 13 years in prison for taking bribes, the longest term ever imposed on a congressman for bribery charges.
The Democrat who represented parts of New Orleans for nearly 20 years was convicted in August of taking about $500,000 in bribes and seeking millions more in exchange for using his influence to broker business deals in Africa.
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III said public corruption was "a cancer on the body politic."
"There must be some sort of greed virus that attacks those in power," said Ellis, who lamented that so many other congressmen have been convicted on similar charges.
But the other punishments weren't quite as severe. For example, former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., was sentenced to more than eight years in prison after pleading guilty in 2005 to taking $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors. Former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for taking bribes from lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and ex-Rep. James Traficant, D-Ohio, served a 7-year sentence after being convicted in a 2002 trial of bribery and racketeering.
Another one bites the dust! Now, we all know that there are many more out there that should be biting said dust along with them, and we can only hope that each time another Public Official that plays the racketeering game will be caught and made example of by way of time in the Cooler.
The rule of law was represented today. For fucking once, if I may say so. More of THIS, please!