Word: holderness
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...deal Rostenkowski could not see brokered to his satisfaction was the plea bargain that his lawyer Robert Bennett struck with the prosecution team headed by U.S. Attorney Eric Holder Jr. Rostenkowski would have got off with a fine and a six-month prison term in exchange for resigning from the House and pleading guilty to a single felony count. After two days of discussion with family and close associates, Rostenkowski decided to turn down the plea. Says former Illinois Representative Marty Russo, a close friend: "He just sat down one night and said, 'Wait a minute. I didn...
While Rostenkowski may have known the extent of the potential indictment against him, for most other people it came as a shock when Holder finally unveiled it last week. In addition to a charge that was already familiar -- that from 1978 to 1991 Rostenkowski took at least $50,000 in cash disguised as office purchases of stamps from the House post office -- the 17-count indictment outlined a collection of schemes that allegedly cost taxpayers more than $500,000. In the most damning part, it accused Rostenkowski of a kickback scam in which he put 14 people on his payroll...
...Holder also accused Rostenkowski of having used office funds to buy from the House stationery store about $40,000 in gifts for family and friends, including hand-painted chairs and crystal models of the Capitol, and of spending $100,000 in House funds and $73,500 in political-campaign funds to lease cars for his personal use. In the most serious charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, he was accused of witness tampering for allegedly asking an engraver to say nothing to a federal grand jury about 50 brass plates he had engraved...
...ATTORNEY ERIC HOLDER...
Over the holiday weekend, Rostenkowski mulled a dismal choice. He could take a deal offered by U.S. Attorney Eric Holder: plead guilty to at least one felony count, and probably accept a short prison term. Or he could let himself be indicted on 10 to 15 counts, charging fraudulent use of his office expense accounts for personal gain, and face trial. He might then escape prison altogether -- or draw a sentence as long as three to four years for each count on which he might be convicted...