The Ohio Democrat who accused the Bush administration of a political "witch hunt" in 2008 was convicted of a slew of racketeering charges stemming from the investigation.
Not only is former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora facing prison time, he will also lose his retirement savings and his interest in his family’s house. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Dimora also forfeited his interest in a retirement account valued at more than $122,000. He has until Tuesday to liquidate the account. Dimora also has to disclose to the government all accounts he has in which he has more than $10,000. …
[U.S. Distrcit Judge Sara] Lioi scheduled sentencing for July 25, almost four years to the day from when the corruption investigation went public. Dimora is looking at at least 16-20 years in prison, according to federal sentencing guidelines.
For most of the morning and into the afternoon, prosecutors and defense lawyers met privately to try to hammer out a deal without taking the case before the jury. Dimora was convicted Friday of racketeering and 32 other corruption-related charges.
In 2009, Dimora denied the charges brought against him, calling the federal investigation an attempt to crush Democratic turnout for Barack Obama.
I believe Rove’s involved…when prosecutors didn’t want to prosecute Democrats, they were removed, they were fired. The same thing’s holding true in 2008 — politically, they were motivated to take Ohio…Ohio in 2008 was critical to the election.