I wonder if Jim Doyle feels guilty about this.
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Georgia Thompson's supporters said she was the epitome of clean government: a civil servant who worked long hours to save money for taxpayers.
A federal judge lauded her overall record but sentenced her to 18 months in prison on Friday for the one major blemish: manipulating a bidding process to steer a contract to a politically connected company.
Thompson was "a superior employee" who committed a very serious offense and should be punished, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa said. "The action taken here was an abuse of trust," he said.
Randa also ordered Thompson, 56, to pay a fine of $4,000 and undergo supervised release for three years.
A jury convicted Thompson in June of steering a contract to book travel for state employees to Adelman Travel Group, whose executives donated $20,000 to Gov. Jim Doyle's campaign before and after the award.
The former Department of Administration purchasing supervisor was found guilty of two felony fraud charges. Prosecutors say she used her spot on a committee that evaluated proposals for the contract to book up to 40 percent of state travel to ensure Adelman won.
Randa ordered Thompson to report to prison Nov. 27. He said he would rule on her request to remain free while she appeals in the coming weeks.
...Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Campbell told Randa a prison sentence would send a strong warning to those in public positions. Probation, he said, would mean "that federal courts in Wisconsin don't take corruption seriously."
"She cheated the state and its people," he said.
Campbell said Thompson acted to enhance her job security and benefit her politically appointed superiors.
But the judge said he struggled with Thompson's motive and that he was convinced she did not personally benefit. He also called her a hard worker who had lived a good life.
Nonetheless, he said, she deprived the state of her honest services and that another company would have won the contract without her intervention.
...Doyle's top aide, Administration Secretary Stephen Bablitch, said the governor has high ethical standards and that "Ms. Thompson, a state employee hired during a Republican Administration, acted alone."
During the trial, other committee members testified they wanted to award the deal to a rival firm but Thompson told them it had to go to Adelman for political reasons. Thompson denied that any of her superiors told her to favor Adelman.
Prosecutors cautioned the case was not about Doyle. Still, they painted what they described as a significant political relationship between Doyle, his aides and Adelman that they said led to pressure on Thompson to favor the Glendale firm.
The contacts included a meeting the governor had with company executives months before the bidding process and meetings and phone calls between then-Administration Secretary Marc Marotta and the company.
The company's chief executive and a board member each gave $10,000 to Doyle's campaign before and after winning the contract last year.
Doyle has defended the contacts as proper and said he never met Thompson, who was hired under Republican Gov. Scott McCallum in 2001.
In the Dems' press release on the sentencing, the party continued to characterize Thompson as a Lee Harvey Oswald -- She acted alone.
“For months, Republicans have been trying to use the Georgia Thompson case for their own political advantage and to smear Governor Doyle.
“But as the prosecutors made clear at trial, the case had absolutely nothing to do with Governor Doyle, and was about ‘Georgia Thompson and Georgia Thompson’ alone. No evidence of any kind has ever been produced before, during, or after the trial to suggest that Thompson was ever subjected to any kind of pressure to award the contract to Adelman Travel.
“Georgia Thompson was a mid-level career civil servant who was appointed by the prior Administration of Republican Governor Scott McCallum. And when Thompson was found guilty, Governor Doyle immediately instructed the Department of Administration to terminate her employment.
“These dishonest, hypocritical attacks are just another pathetic attempt by Republicans to distract voters from the fact that Congressman Mark Green has violated Wisconsin law, and is asking a judge to rule that he can keep more than a million dollars in illegal special interest cash..."
I think this is a "pathetic attempt" to distance Doyle from the scandal.
It can't be done.
The judge "was convinced she did not personally benefit."
Then why did Thompson do it?
Do the Dems really think that Wisconsin voters will swallow their lame spin?
The Republicans also released a statement.
"Today's sentencing for campaign cash can't be tolerated and we praise the judge for taking this matter so seriously.
It's telling that Jim Doyle continues to thumb his nose at the voters of Wisconsin by keeping more than $20,000 in campaign cash that a judge and jury has said is tainted. The Republican Party of Wisconsin renews its call for Doyle to return his dirty money.
One woman is going to prison because of this cash and Doyle still is not willing to part with his tainted money. While she remains an example for those who would rig the system to benefit campaign donors, the voters of Wisconsin will cast the final verdict on Jim Doyle's pay-to-play and dirty politics.
Today's sentencing will help restore Wisconsin's reputation for clean government. When voters elect Mark Green as the next governor of our state, Wisconsin will have made a full recovery."When voters elect Mark Green as the next govenor is another sad chapter in Jim Doyle's administration.
The Dems can spin all they want.
Nothing can change the fact that a "mid-level career civil servant" broke the law to benefit Jim Doyle.
That's not good just weeks before an election.
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