Tom DeLay Convicted of Money Laundering

By Jeralyn, Section Tom DeLay
Posted on Wed Nov 24, 2010 at 06:36:24 PM EST
Tags: Tom DeLay (all tags)

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No happy Thanksgiving for Tom DeLay. The jury found him guilty of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The penalty on one count is 2 to 20 and from 5 to 99 years on the other. He could also receive probation. Texas has jury sentencing, but DeLay previously opted for the judge to sentence him.

His attorney, Dick DeGuerin, says the verdict won't withstand appellate scrutiny:

Mr. DeGuerin said Mr. DeLay would try to convince an appeals court the money-laundering statute should never had been applied to the money swap — because the original donations were legal and also because the donations to the state candidates came out of a different account than the one in which the corporate donations were deposited. “It will never stand,” Mr. DeGuerin said.

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Tom DeLay Convicted of Money Laundering | 7 comments (7 topical)

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What is the opinion of the lawyers on the (none / 0) (#1)
by MO Blue on Wed Nov 24, 2010 at 07:08:11 PM EST

blog of DeGuerin's argument that the verdict won't withstand appellate scrutiny?

Any opinion on how DeGuerin's mistake in introducing DeLay's calendars might have affected the verdict?

: You'd need a specialist in Texas law (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by scribe on Thu Nov 25, 2010 at 07:18:43 AM EST

and, perhaps more importantly, the intersection of Texas politics and Texas appellate judicial decisions to get a definitive answer.
Delay's got a lot of chits out there to be pulled in and you can bet he's been spending them already. So, I suspect he thinks he has the fix already in for himself.
But, regardless, we and all other decent human beings can now, for all time, call him "Convicted criminal Tom Delay", "Convicted money launderer Tom Delay." And we can intone, like so many sanctimonious Texas prosecutors arguing to kill some innocent prisoner over a murder he didn't commit: "the jury has spoken and it said 'guilty'".

I guess he can try the (none / 0) (#2)
by ruffian on Wed Nov 24, 2010 at 08:09:54 PM EST

'my obvious money laundering was too good for the money laundering law' appeal. If it really is a miscarriage of justice, good luck to him.

Houston criminal defense lawyer (none / 0) (#3)
by Peter G on Wed Nov 24, 2010 at 08:40:50 PM EST

Mark Bennett, who is really sharp, says on his blog, "Defending People," that probation is available and is the most likely sentence, not imprisonment.

Will this quote become THE Tom Delay quote? (none / 0) (#4)
by EL seattle on Wed Nov 24, 2010 at 11:07:49 PM EST

For all time...?

"The criminalization of politics undermines our very system." - Tom Delay

Source: New York Times (11/24/2010)

: I totally agree: It's a shame (none / 0) (#8)
by Peter G on Thu Nov 25, 2010 at 09:35:04 AM EST

how DeLay and his ilk turned politics into an opportunity to build a criminal enterprise through "fund-raising." I still remember all the phone calls and mail I used to receive at my office, when he was in power, announcing how I had been selected by DeLay for exclusive membership in some Republican Business Leaders Roundtable or the like, if only I would send money to some committee or other -- despite having been a registered Democrat since turning 21 in 1970. It was just like half the mass-mailing fraud schemes my clients get convicted of. I have no idea where they got the addresses and phone numbers of small business owners (i.e., my law office), but somehow they clearly did, and figured them/us to be good pickings for GOP fundraising.

See my comment #3 (none / 0) (#7)
by Peter G on Thu Nov 25, 2010 at 09:26:33 AM EST

posted above.