There is one standard for ordinary citizens and another standard for the elite:
Former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, convicted in a corruption probe tied to former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, has been released from a minimum security federal prison in Morgantown, W.Va., and transferred to a halfway house.
Officials said Wednesday he will serve out his 30-month sentence at a halfway house at an undisclosed location.
Ney, a former chairman of the House Administration Committee, resigned from the House Nov. 3, 2006, after pleading guilty Oct. 13, 2006, to making false statements and conspiracy to commit fraud. The charges arose from his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is also in federal prison. Ney admitted receiving lavish gifts from Abramoff in return for political favors.
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons said Ney will be released from the bureau’s custody on Aug. 16, and he could be transferred to home confinement in Ohio before then. That release date depends on Ney continuing to compile “good time credit.”
Ney reported to the Morgantown prison to begin his sentence March 1, 2007. While there, he has participated in an alcoholism rehabilitation
program.
In my opinion, people that commit public corruption should be among the last to enjoy leniency. Yes, violent offenders need to kept separated from the general public, but non-violent offenders should get the benefit of the doubt long before elected officials that betray the public trust.
