[PHILLY] Former U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday, one of the longest terms of incarceration ever imposed on a member of Congress convicted of federal corruption crimes.
Addressing the court, the West Philadelphia Democrat expressed regret for some of the decisions he had made and how his conviction had affected his co-defendants and constituents, but stopped short of fully acknowledging his guilt.
"The investigation and the trial has been the most disappointing event in my now 60-year life," he told U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III. "I've helped tens of millions of people and that has nothing to do with the fact that I have been found on the wrong side of these questions by a jury."
Bartle, however, called Fattah's crimes "astonishing" and "extremely serious" - especially for an elected official representing one of the poorest congressional districts in the country and one whose own income put him among the "1 percent." He ordered Fattah to report to begin serving his sentence Jan. 25.
"You abused the trust they placed in you time and time again," he said of the voters who elected Fattah 11 times to represent them in Congress. "Your flagrant behavior undermines the confidence of the citizenry in all public institutions."
Fattah's sentence fell below the 17 to 22 years recommended by federal prosecutors but remains the second-highest prison term ever received by a member of Congress - capped only by the 13 years former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson (D., La.) received in 2009 for soliciting millions of dollars in bribes.
"That's about as good as we could have expected," Fattah lawyer Albert S. Dandridge turned to tell a courtroom packed with supporters and family members moments after the sentence was imposed.
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