Split decision: ex-Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) gets 8 years 4 months for accepting bribes and public corruption of various sorts.

Federal prosecutors had asked for the maximum sentence of ten years, citing Cunningham's corruption which they argued was unprecedented in its scope and brazenness.

Defense attorneys asked for six years.

According to the AP, it is the longest sentence ever meted out to a member of Congress.

See federal prosecutors sentencing memorandum here.

See the highlights of the memorandum here.

See the crack piece of enterprise reporting by the San Diego Union-Tribune's Marcus Stern, published on June 12th, 2005, which started Duke's vast skein of unbridled corruption unraveling.

See the TPM archive of Randy "Duke" Cunningham reportage-cum-snark here.