RICHMOND – Former Gov. Bob McDonnell was sentenced Tuesday to
24 months in prison after being convicted of 11 felony
corruption charges in September.
At a packed hearing at the federal courthouse, U.S. District
Judge James R. Spencer sentenced McDonnell, 60, to two years
in prison followed by two on probation.
McDonnell will be incarcerated at a federal facility in
Petersburg at the request of his defense team. The Federal
Bureau of Prisons must determine by Feb. 9 where McDonnell
will carry out his sentence.
McDonnell said he was “blinded by the busy-ness of life,” as
he accepted responsibility for his actions as governor. He
asked that Spencer be lenient with his wife, Maureen
McDonnell, at her sentencing Feb. 20.
“A lot of blame was assessed in the case of the defendant’s
predicament,” Spencer said before reading the sentence. He
said the McDonnells received a fair trial and had ample
opportunity to present a rigorous defense.
The defendants filed dozens of motions and were afforded
intense examination of witnesses. In short, Spencer said
McDonnell was given “all the process that was due him.”
“The defendants had good advice and good counsel all over the
place,” the judge said, “but Mrs. McDonnell brought the
serpent Jonnie Williams into the mansion, and Mr. McDonnell
let him in and out of his finances.”
The McDonnells were convicted of accepting gifts and loans
from Williams, the CEO of Star Scientific Inc., in exchange
for lending the support of the governor’s office for the
company’s dietary supplements.
McDonnell will be under supervised release at the end of his
sentence. No fines were imposed because Spencer said “the
defendant would be unable to pay them.” However, McDonnell
must pay an assessment of $1,100 and may not incur or apply
for credit during his probation.
The sentencing began with arguments from the defense on the
assessed value of the bribes the McDonnells received from
Williams. McDonnell’s lawyers presented the figure of
$69,640.53 as opposed to the indictment’s estimate of
$177,000. Spencer ultimately said “the government has the
best analysis” on how much the gifts and loans were worth.
The defense was able to remove an obstruction enhancement
from the sentencing guidelines. This dropped the maximum
possible prison term from 12 years to eight years. The
prosecution recommended that McDonnell be sentenced to 78
months in prison.
The defense asked that McDonnell be assigned 6,000 hours of
community service – about three years of 40-hour work weeks.
Operation Blessing International, a nonprofit based in
Virginia Beach, said it would welcome McDonnell to work in
Haiti or Bristol, Va. The Catholic Diocese of Richmond also
said it would welcome McDonnell to work in Southwest
Virginia.
The defense introduced nearly 500 letters of support from
sources ranging from Democratic U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine to former
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Each of the McDonnells’
children also submitted letters.
In addition, nearly a dozen character witnesses asked for
leniency for the disgraced governor.
“If Bob McDonnell were to get 50 years (in prison), he
wouldn’t be any more punished,” said former Gov. L. Douglas
Wilder, a Democrat. Wilder earned applause when he pointed
out that Williams, who instigated the corruption charges,
will walk away a free man.
McDonnell once was considered a possible running mate for the
2012 GOP presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, and a possible
presidential candidate for 2016. McDonnell delivered the 2010
Republican response to the State of the Union address and was
chairman of the Republican Governors Association in 2011.
“I stand before you as a humbled and heartbroken man,”
McDonnell said in a final statement to the court before his
sentencing. “I hold myself fully accountable for my actions
as governor.”
The McDonnell trial put Virginia in the national spotlight,
and has sparked calls to reform the state’s ethics laws – a
campaign promise of the current governor, Terry McAuliffe.
After the federal court hearing, McAuliffe said that the
sentencing “brings an end to one of the most difficult
periods in the history of Virginia state government.”
“Like many Virginians, I am saddened by the effect this trial
has had on our commonwealth’s reputation for clean, effective
government,” McAuliffe said. “As we put this period behind
us, I look forward to working with Virginia leaders on both
sides of the aisle to restore public trust in our
government.”
McDonnell was the first Virginia governor in state history to
be indicted or convicted of a felony, His defense team
already has filed an appeal.
