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44 - Bernard Kerik sentenced to four years in prison

Bernard Kerik sentenced to four years in prison

Associated Press
Former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik, who was hailed as a hero after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and nearly became chief of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was sentenced to four years behind bars Thursday for eight felonies.

Kerik admitted in November that he lied to the White House, filed false taxes and committed other crimes.

"The fact that Mr. Kerik would use that event (9/11) for personal gain and aggrandizement is a dark place in the soul for me," said federal Judge Stephen Robinson.

An apologetic Kerik said before the sentence was pronounced: "Allow me to return to my wife and two little girls as soon as possible." Federal guidelines indicated Kerik's sentence should be between 27 and 33 months in prison. Robinson said he went beyond the guidelines because they could not account for certain factors.

Kerik was "the chief law enforcement law enforcement officer for the biggest and grandest city this nation has," Robinson said. The crimes were committed "in the process of attempting to become a cabinet level position in the government of the United States."

Kerik, 54, has already been ordered to pay $188,000 in restitution and to pay past-due taxes and penalties on six years of tax returns.

Another gov't crook bites the dust, one can only wonder how much he abused the position that Bush appointed him to as well

Bernard Kerik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia