Lawyers for Michael Scanlon — one of the central figures in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal set to be sentenced on Friday — say their client deserves less than the two years in jail the federal government requested since he “believed he was literally risking his life” by cooperating with the feds.
Scanlon’s attorneys throw in everything but the kitchen sink while pointing out reasons why Scanlon shouldn’t serve a full two years. One of them: an actor’s portray of him in the recent flick “Casino Jack” starring Kevin Spacey has already soiled his reputation.
“He has also thrown away his career, has lost control of his financial affairs and jeopardized his ability to provide for his sons,” his lawyers write. “His reputation has gone down the drain as well, and he will be stigmatized forever as the caricature of Mike Scanlon portrayed in the recent movie ‘Casino Jack’ rather than the true Mike Scanlon.”
Scanlon, they write, “has not been sentenced yet, but he has already been ‘handcuffed’ and diminished for quite some time now.” They also point out that he “has devoted considerable time and effort to cooperating with the FBI and the DOJ in multiple investigations.”
“The Department of Justice has recognized that Mr. Scanlon deserves substantial credit for being both the first cooperator in its probe and a source of substantial cooperation indeed thereafter,” his lawyers write. “Indeed, the DOJ has recognized that Mr. Scanlon deserves the most cooperation credit of anyone in the Abramoff probe. Even so, the DOJ’s sentencing recommendation does not go far enough in terms of appropriately rewarding Mr. Scanlon for accepting responsibility, breaking this investigation wide open and assisting law enforcement efforts on multiple fronts thereafter. It is thus up to this Court now to give Mr. Scanlon the full credit he deserves in order to encourage future individuals in positions like Mr. Scanlon to come forward first as well.”
Scanlon, his legal counsel writes, “has also lived through the ebbs and flows of the circle of life.” They write that his father died of cancer in 2006 and that he became a father in 2008.
“Mr. Scanlon’s father will never get the chance to see a rehabilitated son post-conviction. We hope, and pray, that Quin Scanlon - and Mr. Scanlon’s older son Jack - will not be deprived of the opportunity to spend time with their rehabilitated father as well,” they write.
“Some of the best years of Mr. Scanlon’s life have already been taken from him, admittedly through fault of his own,” they write.
“Thus, we submit that ‘60 percent off of … the low end of the guidelines’ is the right cap (or ceiling) for the range of a potential sentence that this Court might impose on Mr. Scanlon. Sixty percent off ofthe low end of Mr. Scanlon’s guideline range (51 months) would be approximately 20 months as the appropriate ceiling for his sentence.”
Rev. Max J. Wolf, Scanlon’s pastor since 2001 as well as his friend Michael McKenna, his fellow parish member Olly Wolf, his sister Diana Scanlon Castleberry, his mother Robin Scanlon, his real estate agent Bryce Lingo, his friend Nicholas Lewis and his brother-in-law Hampton E. Castleberry II wrote to the court in support of Scanlon.
Additional reporting by Alex Sciuto.
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.
Facebook Conversations
Questions about commenting with non-Facebook accounts like Yahoo, or other concerns? Click here to read the TPM Commenting FAQ.