Federal prosecutors say Abramoff associate Kevin Ring should serve from 17 to 22 years in prison for his role in the Abramoff scandal — a role which centered on treating government officials to meals and sports tickets.
To give you some perspective, almost everyone else involved in the scandal served little more than a year in prison, if that. Even Abramoff himself served only three and one half years in prison. Only one member of Congress did any time for the Abramoff scandal, fmr. Rep Bob Ney (R-OH). And he served 17 months. (Tom DeLay was never charged.) Most of these other principals were guilty of much worse than Ring — either because of the nature of their actions or the positions of public trust they held at the time.
Why the extra punishment? Because Ring chose to fight the charges and wouldn’t admit guilt. For better or worse, we all understand you pay a price if you insist on going to trial. But there are still limits of reasonability. Just like kids arrested for petty drug deals shouldn’t rot in jail for the better part of their lives, the government’s demand in this case is outrageous.
