well, you're the duke

From Cash to Yachts, Convicted Congressman Set Bribery Rates (via Drudge)

Ignoring the obvious infuriating aspects of this whole mess, I'd just like to point out the following:

"Prosecutors will ask federal Judge Larry Burns to impose the statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison [for Randy "Duke" Cunningham].... His lawyers say he has cooperated fully [since pleading guilty]... and they will ask the judge to go outside the sentencing guidelines and impose a lighter sentence than 10 years." Meanwhile: "One of the defense contractors, Mitchell Wade, pleaded guilty Friday to... four corruption charges [that] carry a maximum sentence of 20 years."

So, the guy that offers bribes could get 20 years, while the guy who took them, and also took bribes from a bunch of other people, abusing his power as a Congressman on the defense appropriations committee, gets at most 10.

Wikipedia says, "Because he pled guilty, Cunningham faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. Had he tried to fight the charges, he risked spending the rest of his life in prison. Cunningham's attorney, Mark Holscher, later said that the government's evidence was so overwhelming that he had no choice but to recommend a guilty plea." And also, the article mentions that Cunningham has cancer and could very well die in prison. Will it be a federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison? My magic 8-ball says: doubtful.