Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Is Duke Cunningham Violating His Plea Agreement?

Via NCTimes.com, it appears that former Congressman Randy 'Duke' Cunningham, the man at the center of the now infamous scandal that bears his name, may be violating his plea agreement:

Randy Cunningham has not been helping federal authorities as they continue to probe the former North County congressman's web of corruption, a top Pentagon investigator said Tuesday.

Rick Gwin, special agent in charge of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service's western regional office, said he is troubled by the lack of assistance, particularly in light of Cunningham's plea agreement that calls for him to tell all that he knows.

"In my opinion, he has not been cooperative and I have not gotten any information from him to further develop other targets," Gwin said in a telephone interview from his office in Mission Viejo. "I was hoping that from a jail cell, he might become more cooperative, but we just don't have the cooperation that I think we should have."

Cunningham pleaded guilty in November to bribery and tax evasion, admitting he took more than $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors.

Section XV of Cunningham's plea agreement specifically states:

Defendant agrees to be interviewed by federal and state law enforcement agents and attorneys and to tell everything defendant knows about every person involved presently or in the past directly or indirectly in the acts and offenses identified in the Information in this case, and all other acts and offenses related thereto, as well as any other criminal offenses. Defendant also agrees to produce all documents and other evidence in defendant’s possession or control related to these offenses.

If Cunningham refuses to cooperate, the government has the right to revisit the sentence given to him by the courts, thereby risking a much longer incarceration than the 8+ years he has already received.

(hat tip to American Politics Journal)

No comments:

Post a Comment