Former Virginia First Lady Gets A Year In Prison`

[su_right_ad]Maureen McDonnell will serve a year and a day in prison for the bribery scheme that ended her husband’s career. The former governor is serving two years.

U.S. District Judge James Spencer sentenced McDonnell on eight public corruption counts. The couple had been found guilty of doing favors for a nutritional supplements executive in exchange for $165,000 in gifts and loans. Prosecutors had asked for an 18-month sentence for the former first lady. Defense attorneys requested probation and 4,000 hours of community service.

Fighting back tears, McDonnell apologized to her family and Virginians and said she takes full responsibility.

“I would ask in your sentence today that you consider the punishment I’ve already received,” she said. “My marriage is broken, my family is hurting and my reputation is in shatters.”

But the judge called the case “puzzling and bizarre,” saying there appeared to be two Maureen McDonnells — the loving mother and devoted wife and the first lady “who belittled and terrorized employees” at the Executive Mansion.

“How can a person become so bedazzled by material possessions that she can no longer see the difference between what’s appropriate and inappropriate,” Spencer said.

Her husband, former Gov. Bob McDonnell, convicted of 11 counts, was sentenced to two years in prison last month. He is free on bond while he appeals the convictions to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which will hear arguments May 12.

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D.B. Hirsch

D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.