Lawyers for Paul Magliocchetti, the big time lobbyist who pleaded guilty in September to making hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions and giving false statements to a federal agency, are asking a federal court to grant leniency to their client, who’s set to be sentenced on Friday.
Dr. David Blackmon, a licensed psychologist in Jacksonville Beach, Florida performed a neuropsychological evaluation on Magliocchetti and lawyers have requested he testify in court this week.
Blackmon opines that Magliocchetti’s hard fall from power (in its prime, his PMA Group was one of the biggest lobbying firms in D.C.) makes him a “high risk for suicide” if he’s incarcerated.
“In prison, or even facing the likelihood of a long prison sentence, Mr. Magliocchetti is at high risk for suicide. Were he to be incarcerated, Mr. Magliocchetti would certainly require ongoing psychotherapeutic support,” Blackmon said in his evaluation.
“As the investigation into his firm’s lobbying activities progressed over the last 24 months Mr. Magliocchetti reports increased alcohol use, severe depression with suicidal thinking, and pronounced anxiety,” Blackmon writes.
“In November of 2008, federal investigations were launched into Mr. Magliocchetti’s business affairs and he subsequently lost his company and estimates that between legal fees and lost income, he is down over $2 million. While he had been a moderate social drinker prior to the federal investigation, Mr. Magliocchetti acknowledged that he was drinking rather heavily prior to his admission at The Retreat.”
“His mood progressively worsened, he had sleep problems, hopelessness, anhedonia, shame, and prominent ruminative worry. He was under treatment with Dr. Ed Curcio and was being treated with both Remeron and Lithium. He began to talk of suicide as ‘Plan A’ with a self-reported plan to overdose on medications and ‘never wake up’ according to records reviewed.”
Magliocchetti also received treatment of a prostate infection which required surgical resection and was found to have Type II Diabetes, according to the report. A medical condition called Mild Cognitive Impairment has also begun to onset, Blackmon writes. “This recognized medical condition is an intermediate stage between normal age-related cognitive changes, and the onset of dementia.”
The Justice Department first indicted Magliocchetti back in August based on evidence referred to DOJ by the Office of Congressional Ethics. The House ethics committee cleared seven lawmakers who were on the receiving end of PMA donations and reportedly steered $200 million to the clients of the firm.
The Justice Department said politicians which received the campaign donations, including the late Rep. John Murtha, were unaware of Magliocchetti’s scheme.
Magliocchetti lawyer Tirzah Sungyeh Lollar did not respond to requests for comment
