Not sure how I missed this one, but Richard Lipsky — the New York Lobbyist who pleaded guilty to offering Carl Kruger $200,000 in bribes — was sentenced to only 3 months in Federal prison.
THREE MONTHS! That’s a substantial discount off of the 57-71 months that the charges carried against him.
Now, I understand that prosecutors and judges often need to give cooperators a break in order to obtain convictions against the primary target. But three months?
Come on people. There will never make a real dent in political corruption unless and until everyone involved is seriously punished. Doling out wrist-slaps to rat lobbyists like Lipsky is a joke. It practically encourages lobbyists to carry on until their caught. Why not? At worst, they’ll have to cough up a little of their ill-gotten gains, roll over on their “friends” in the state house, and have a conviction on their records. What’s a few months of easy time in Club Fed?
Ugh.