What Punishment Will Tom DeLay Get? said Hammered

What Punishment Will Tom DeLay Get? said Hammered............

Five years and a month ago, Tom DeLay, who was once House Majority leader, set the standard for jailhouse mug shots. Smiling widely, with a twinkle in his eye, he held a metal sign: "10-20-05, Thomas Dale DeLay, Money Laundering." Now, 1,861 days later, after an epic legal struggle, a retreat from Washington back to his constituency of Sugar Land, Texas, after one cha-cha in a leopard print vest on Season Nine of Dancing with the Stars — plus a stiff waltz, a fumbled tango and a hobbled samba — the smiling former Texas congressman, the man they called "The Hammer," has been found guilty as charged.

Much is being made of the possible punishment — one to 99 years in state prison on the money laundering charge, two to 20 on a conspiracy charge. But presiding Judge Pat Priest, a semi-retired special appointee who added to the musical theme by listening to Rodgers and Hammerstein show tunes as the jury deliberated, could very well give the fallen politician probation. Sentencing will begin on Dec. 20; and, so far, prosecutors have not specified how much jail time they will demand, only that the case was a "message from the people of Texas" who want "honesty and ethics" in their public officials, according to District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. After almost 20 hours of deliberations that at several points appeared to be off track, an Austin jury found DeLay guilty of moving $190,000 in corporate donations through the Republican National Committee to a political action committee aimed at aiding GOP state legislative candidates. That push was allegedly part of DeLay's effort — a successful one — to control the congressional redistricting process.