Pennsylvania's former Democratic attorney general Kathleen Kane will learn her fate Monday when a judge rules whether she will go to prison for perjury and obstruction of justice as part of a political retaliation feud.
Kane, 50, who was previously found guilty by a jury on all nine criminal counts in August, could potentially be required to serve a maximum of 12-24 years in jail if the judge believes that her crimes warrant more than probation.
Kane requested that a judge in suburban Philadelphia spare her from a prison sentence and give her probation or house arrest so that she could raise her two teenage sons, arguing the loss of her career and damaged reputation was enough punishment. Prosecutors involved with the case, however, are pushing for Kane to serve jail time, according to the Associated Press.
However, prosecutors call her crimes "egregious" and will push for jail time. They say a paranoid Kane ruined morale in the 800-person office and the wider law enforcement community through a calculated scheme to embarrass rival prosecutors who had left the office.
Kane "repeatedly misused her official authority to advance her personal vendettas," Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, a fellow Democrat, wrote in a sentencing memo last week.
Kane became a rising political star in Pennsylvania thanks in part to support from Bill and Hillary Clinton during her 2012 bid for attorney general. However, she was asked to resign back in August by Pennsylvania's Democratic governor Tom Wolf, the Washington Free Beacon reported at the time.
"I implore Attorney General Kane to do what is right: Put the commonwealth's residents first and step down," Wolf said.
Prior to her criminal investigation, Kane received positive press coverage for vocally supporting gay marriage and was actively involved with the Penn State University sexual assault case after she criticized her predecessor's handling of it. Turmoil arrived after Kane started feuding with the top deputies and career prosecutors in her office, the AP reported.
But turmoil inside the office became apparent as top deputies and career prosecutors headed for the doors. Kane's feud with one of them, Frank Fina, who had helped run the Penn State probe and other sensitive investigations, led to the leak.
Kane, taking aim at him, had a campaign consultant pass confidential files to a reporter about a corruption case Fina had declined to charge before he left the office. She then tried to frame someone else for the leak, aides testified at the perjury and obstruction trial.
Kane did not testify at the August trial. A jury convicted her on all nine counts. Common Pleas Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy sharply warned Kane afterward that she would put her in jail if she tried to retaliate against anyone. The sentence could range from probation to a maximum 12 to 24 years in prison.