Newton begs for a light jail sentance

You're kidding me, right? After everything Ernest Newton did and said, he NOW begs for a light sentence. Has he admitted his crimes to the public yet or does he still feel like he is the Moses of his people (let's not forget that Newton was basically a hustler that would do anything for a buck and had connections to the mob...and the feds have Newton on tape talking about his dirty work).

Get it over with already and just throw the book at this hustler.


From the Hartford Courant

Ex-Sen. Ernest Newton's lawyers filed a plea for a light sentence for their client Friday.

The 28-page document delves extensively into the legal technicalities of federal sentencing guidelines but ignores assertions by prosecutors that Newton was a corrupt hustler who took campaign cash for favors to mobsters and demanded a raise for a no-show job.

The sentencing memorandum also sets the stage for plea for leniency based on claims that Newton has had a long career in public service, first as a member of the Bridgeport City Council and later as a state representative and state senator.

Attached to the legal arguments were 19 letters from political colleagues, friends and relatives attesting to Newton's good character, his struggle against drug addiction and his history of work in behalf of the public.

Man, this guy will use any card to his advantage. Whether it's the race card, or the "oh, I had a troubled life" card, Newton will do anything to save his own skin.

Newton is trying to persuade Senior U.S. District Judge Alan H. Nevas to give him a sentence below the 57- to 71-month range recommended by the U.S. Probation Office. Federal prosecutors, in a sentencing memo filed Thursday, accused Newton of engaging in a remarkable pattern of criminal behavior while in office - a pattern the prosecutors hope will persuade Nevas to impose a long sentence.

Nevas on Friday postponed Newton's sentencing hearing from next week to Feb. 3 at the U.S. District Court in Bridgeport. Newton pleaded guilty in September to bribery, tax evasion and mail fraud.

Newton's lawyers argue among other things that the probation department is recommending an improperly lengthy sentence based on the erroneous conclusion that an FBI wiretap recorded Newton attempting to obstruct justice.

The wiretap captured Newton speaking by telephone with Warren Godbolt, the operator of a Bridgeport jobs training agency, who had paid Newton $5,000 for his help in getting the agency a state construction grant.

During the recorded conversation, Newton attempts to persuade Godbolt to lie to the FBI by claiming that the $5,000 wasn't a bribe, but a consulting fee. During the same conversation, Newton instructs Godbolt to prepare a federal tax form belatedly in a further attempt to disguise the payment.

Newton's lawyers contend the wiretap recording was made after Godbolt had begun cooperating with FBI agents. In a leap of legal logic, they contend Newton could not have obstructed justice because Godbolt was acting with FBI agents, who knew Newton was trying to induce a lie.

Okay, don't feel embarrassed, I had to pull my jaw off the desk after reading that quote from Newotn's lawyers also.

Is that jaw of your okay now? Good, now continue reading. It's gets better...

"Putting the guidelines aside, it is extremely hard to imagine how anything Mr. Newton said or did, then or later, could possibly obstruct justice when the FBI was sitting there with Godbolt, and in possession of evidence [from Godbolt, wiretaps and other sources] showing that Godbolt did indeed pay Mr. Newton," the defense sentencing memo says.

Godbolt was just one of several small business owners in Bridgeport who federal prosecutors say paid bribes to Newton in return for legislative assistance he promised them.

The prosecutors also say Newton obtained a no-show job through now-imprisoned former Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim, and then demanded a raise. And the prosecutors say Newton attempted to intervene with Bridgeport city officials on behalf of a mobster who wanted the police to stop raiding his strip clubs. The mobster later contributed to Newton's 2004 campaign and bailed Newton's son out of jail after a 2004 arrest.

You can't make this type of stuff up.