Ex-Iowa senator gets prison in pay-for-endorsement scheme
Source: Associated Press
Ex-Iowa senator gets prison in pay-for-endorsement scheme
David Pitt, Associated Press Updated 4:49 pm, Tuesday, January 17, 2017
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former Iowa Sen. Kent Sorenson, who accepted money for endorsing presidential candidate Ron Paul in 2012, was sentenced to 15 months in prison Tuesday — even though prosecutors had sought only probation.
In Judge Robert Pratt's surprise decision, he said "political corruption is slowly eroding the foundations of our Democracy" and those who betray the public trust must be punished.
Minutes before Pratt announced the sentence in federal court in Des Moines, Sorenson said he is filled with regret and apologized to the people of Iowa and his former colleagues in the Iowa Legislature. The Republican, who was a sought-after Iowa politician as GOP presidential candidates began campaigning in Iowa in advance of the January 2012 Iowa caucuses, said he was "cocky, arrogant and filled with misguided ideas" after defeating a Democratic incumbent to win his Senate seat.
Sorenson first signed on as Iowa chairman of Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign but shifted support to Ron Paul just days before the caucuses. Even though Iowa Senate rules prohibit lawmakers from taking money from a political campaign, Sorenson accepted $59,000 from Bachmann's campaign, then $73,000 for an endorsement of Paul.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Ex-legislator-gets-15-months-for-taking-money-to-10862767.php
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Kent Sorenson, Ron Paul
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