02-11-2010, 04:05 PM
Guess it is a N Y custom to promote bosses ala Kerik and T$.
Feb. 10) -- Who will U.S. District Judge Stephen C. Robinson see when he peers down at ex-New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik during sentencing Feb. 18 in White Plains, N.Y.?
An egotistical, lying, greedy lawbreaker, as the government suggests in documents filed Monday in federal court? Or a dedicated public servant, 9/11 hero, compassionate cop, father and husband who made some "poor decisions," as his defense team asserts?
To read each side's sentencing memorandum is to get a very different view as to the real Bernie Kerik, 54, who pleaded guilty last November to eight felony counts including tax fraud and lying to the Bush White House while being considered for the coveted Cabinet post of secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The plea agreement calls for a sentence of 27 to 33 months. Kerik's attorney is asking for 27 months.
Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP
Bernard Kerik, the former police commissioner for New York City, faces up to 33 months in prison after pleading guilty to charges including tax fraud and lying to the Bush White House.
Whatever the take on Kerik -- and whether the sentencing memos make an impact on the judge -- one thing is clear: His digressions have taken a toll on his family.
According to his memo, Kerik and his wife, Hala, have two young daughters, ages 7 and 9, "who have suffered from psychological trauma because of the media attention to this case, and who have been subjected to taunting at school by chants such as 'your father is going to jail.'"
The document goes on to say that Kerik, whose father was an alcoholic and whose mother was a prostitute, still enjoys the support of his wife.
That being said, he has been unemployed since June 2009 and has been living on his New York police pension, family savings and credit cards, the court document says.
His legal woes have resulted in "enormous debt and mounting legal fees that have caused him to mortgage their home," the document says, and his "main concern is his family's well-being and limiting emotional, psychological and financial stress placed on his wife and young daughters."
It also goes on to portray him as a hero and selfless public servant "who being far from perfect has truly and significantly improved the lives of so many individuals."
The government, if only briefly, concedes that he was not all evil.
"Like most defendants who come before this Court, the defendant is neither all bad nor all good," the memorandum from the U.S. Attorney's Office states. "The many letters submitted on his behalf attest to individual acts of kindness unselfishly performed by the defendant on the behalf of others."
But several paragraphs later, the gloves came off, with the government arguing: "The defendant's egotism and hubris were the tragic flaws that led him to commit the considerable number of crimes to which he ultimately pled guilty."
Paul J. Richards, AFP / Getty Images
Kerik, here with George W. Bush in Oct. 2004, was known as a 9/11 hero when he was nominated to be the first Homeland Security secretary.
"The defendant's willingness to break the law repeatedly in order to lead a more lavish lifestyle – by among other things, unlawfully accepting over $250,000 in apartment renovations from a contractor seeking to do business with the city, failing to declare on his tax return the lease value of a luxury BMW sedan that he had received as income for consulting services, crudely manufacturing large charitable deductions on his tax returns, and failing to identify to the IRS and pay payroll taxes for a full-time nanny for his children -- would be unconscionable in any case. Here it is especially so because the defendant was a law enforcement officer."
The government goes on to say that it had discovered that Kerik had created an offshore bank account in the Cayman Islands in the name of a shell corporation and "the defendant's incentive for flight will be greater once he knows for certain he has been sentenced to a prison term."
The U.S. Attorney's Office wants the judge to toss Kerik in jail immediately after sentencing as opposed to allowing him to surrender at a later date as requested by the defense.
Kerik's attorneys countered, saying, "Beyond the staggering number of medals he has been awarded for personal valor and bravery, and the public honors he has received for his successful efforts to improve public safety and law enforcement morale ... Bernard Kerik is a man deeply admired by so many of the men and women he led and served, because in his private life too he is a caring and generous person."
"Mr. Kerik has been acutely tormented by the daily guilt and remorse he feels for his actions," the memo adds. "He knows that he has caused anguish to those he cares for most: his wife and children, and seriously disappointed many in the public who held him in such high regard."
Filed under: Nation, Crime
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Feb. 10) -- Who will U.S. District Judge Stephen C. Robinson see when he peers down at ex-New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik during sentencing Feb. 18 in White Plains, N.Y.?
An egotistical, lying, greedy lawbreaker, as the government suggests in documents filed Monday in federal court? Or a dedicated public servant, 9/11 hero, compassionate cop, father and husband who made some "poor decisions," as his defense team asserts?
To read each side's sentencing memorandum is to get a very different view as to the real Bernie Kerik, 54, who pleaded guilty last November to eight felony counts including tax fraud and lying to the Bush White House while being considered for the coveted Cabinet post of secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The plea agreement calls for a sentence of 27 to 33 months. Kerik's attorney is asking for 27 months.
Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP
Bernard Kerik, the former police commissioner for New York City, faces up to 33 months in prison after pleading guilty to charges including tax fraud and lying to the Bush White House.
Whatever the take on Kerik -- and whether the sentencing memos make an impact on the judge -- one thing is clear: His digressions have taken a toll on his family.
According to his memo, Kerik and his wife, Hala, have two young daughters, ages 7 and 9, "who have suffered from psychological trauma because of the media attention to this case, and who have been subjected to taunting at school by chants such as 'your father is going to jail.'"
The document goes on to say that Kerik, whose father was an alcoholic and whose mother was a prostitute, still enjoys the support of his wife.
That being said, he has been unemployed since June 2009 and has been living on his New York police pension, family savings and credit cards, the court document says.
His legal woes have resulted in "enormous debt and mounting legal fees that have caused him to mortgage their home," the document says, and his "main concern is his family's well-being and limiting emotional, psychological and financial stress placed on his wife and young daughters."
It also goes on to portray him as a hero and selfless public servant "who being far from perfect has truly and significantly improved the lives of so many individuals."
The government, if only briefly, concedes that he was not all evil.
"Like most defendants who come before this Court, the defendant is neither all bad nor all good," the memorandum from the U.S. Attorney's Office states. "The many letters submitted on his behalf attest to individual acts of kindness unselfishly performed by the defendant on the behalf of others."
But several paragraphs later, the gloves came off, with the government arguing: "The defendant's egotism and hubris were the tragic flaws that led him to commit the considerable number of crimes to which he ultimately pled guilty."
Paul J. Richards, AFP / Getty Images
Kerik, here with George W. Bush in Oct. 2004, was known as a 9/11 hero when he was nominated to be the first Homeland Security secretary.
"The defendant's willingness to break the law repeatedly in order to lead a more lavish lifestyle – by among other things, unlawfully accepting over $250,000 in apartment renovations from a contractor seeking to do business with the city, failing to declare on his tax return the lease value of a luxury BMW sedan that he had received as income for consulting services, crudely manufacturing large charitable deductions on his tax returns, and failing to identify to the IRS and pay payroll taxes for a full-time nanny for his children -- would be unconscionable in any case. Here it is especially so because the defendant was a law enforcement officer."
The government goes on to say that it had discovered that Kerik had created an offshore bank account in the Cayman Islands in the name of a shell corporation and "the defendant's incentive for flight will be greater once he knows for certain he has been sentenced to a prison term."
The U.S. Attorney's Office wants the judge to toss Kerik in jail immediately after sentencing as opposed to allowing him to surrender at a later date as requested by the defense.
Kerik's attorneys countered, saying, "Beyond the staggering number of medals he has been awarded for personal valor and bravery, and the public honors he has received for his successful efforts to improve public safety and law enforcement morale ... Bernard Kerik is a man deeply admired by so many of the men and women he led and served, because in his private life too he is a caring and generous person."
"Mr. Kerik has been acutely tormented by the daily guilt and remorse he feels for his actions," the memo adds. "He knows that he has caused anguish to those he cares for most: his wife and children, and seriously disappointed many in the public who held him in such high regard."
Filed under: Nation, Crime
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