By Grant Schulte and Brian Melley | Related Press
OMAHA, Neb. — Former Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska was sentenced Tuesday to 2 years of probation, a $25,000 high-quality and group service for mendacity to federal authorities about an unlawful marketing campaign contribution, on the identical day that voters in his district had been deciding on his alternative in a particular election.
Fortenberry, 61, sat quietly as a federal choose learn the sentence in a Los Angeles courtroom. The previous congressman resigned in March shortly after a California jury discovered him responsible within the corruption case. He has maintained his innocence and stated he plans to attraction.
Fortenberry selected to not handle the court docket. Decide Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. stated Fortenberry “turned a blind eye and a deaf ear” to indications that the supply of his donations was illicit.
“Mr. Fortenberry selected the incorrect path,” Blumenfeld stated. “He determined to reply with dishonesty relatively than honesty, and mendacity, particularly on this context, is actually a severe matter.”
However the choose stated he was satisfied that Fortenberry’s actions weren't consultant of how he usually behaves. He stated Fortenberry was usually “a person of outstanding character,” a view shared even by prosecution witnesses. When Blumenfeld wished him luck, Fortenberry stated, “Thanks.”
Fortenberry later stated he deliberate to attraction, arguing that prosecutors by no means ought to have introduced the case and accusing them of making the most of his belief.
“This has been very traumatic and we’ve obtained a method to go,” he stated exterior the courthouse after the sentencing. “However I'm grateful that … the choose acknowledged that the sample of what I needed to do with my life was merely to serve in public workplace and to attempt to assist folks.”
Fortenberry stated he had been anxious in regards to the listening to’s end result. Gesturing to his environment in downtown Los Angeles, he stated, “We’re in a really unusual place. It’s not Nebraska.”
Prosecutors had been looking for six months in jail for Fortenberry, whereas his attorneys had requested probation. Assistant U.S. Lawyer Mack Jenkins stated prosecutors disagreed with the choice to not impose jail time, however famous the choose’s feedback endorsing the jury’s choice.
In delivering the sentence, which incorporates 320 hours group service, Blumenfeld cited circumstances of extra vital public corruption that led to jail sentences of a couple of 12 months. He stated he didn’t suppose incarceration would serve a objective on this case.
After the sentencing, Fortenberry approached the choose and spoke with him privately on the bench. Fortenberry stated exterior court docket that he thanked Blumenfeld for studying all of the letters of assist folks despatched and for noting his ambition in holding workplace.
The sentence was handed down as a particular election was happening to fill the remainder of his time period, which ends in January. Republican state Sen. Mike Flood faces a fellow legislator, Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks, within the GOP-leaning japanese Nebraska district.
Prosecutors alleged Fortenberry lied to federal brokers a number of instances about $30,000 in unlawful marketing campaign contributions he obtained from a Nigerian billionaire at a 2016 fundraiser in Los Angeles. Federal regulation prohibits donations from foreigners.
At his trial, prosecutors performed cellphone recordings between Fortenberry and a donor-turned-informant, who warned the congressman that the donations had probably been funneled to him from Gilbert Chagoury, the Nigerian billionaire of Lebanese descent. Fortenberry’s attorneys later argued that he didn’t hear the warning as a consequence of unhealthy cellphone reception.
Within the particular election, Flood seems to have a powerful edge within the district, which incorporates Lincoln, elements of suburban Omaha and dozens of smaller, extra conservative cities. The district has almost 68,000 extra Republicans than Democrats and hasn’t elected a Democrat to Congress since 1964.
Republicans are additionally outpacing Democrats in early-ballot turnout for the particular election, in keeping with the Nebraska secretary of state’s workplace. In most elections, early absentee votes are inclined to favor Democrats.
For voters, a swap from Fortenberry to Flood wouldn’t make a lot distinction by way of coverage. Each have described themselves as sturdy conservatives who assist tax cuts and oppose abortion.
“I believe it’s truthful to say that their votes would line up in all probability 90% of the time,” stated Sam Fischer, a retired Republican marketing campaign guide.
Fischer stated Flood, like Fortenberry, tends to be a behind-the-scenes participant who’s extra desirous about coverage than looking for consideration. Flood has performed to this notion in marketing campaign adverts, describing himself as a “nerd” who will “get issues finished.”
“His fashion is to not be a showhorse, however a workhorse,” Fischer stated.
Pansing Brooks has stated she would additionally promote the district’s pursuits in Congress and work throughout celebration strains.
“I’ve stated one-party rule isn’t working. We've got to return collectively,” she stated throughout a televised debate with Flood.
Flood and Pansing Brooks will face one another once more within the November basic election to resolve who takes the seat for the subsequent congressional time period.
Fortenberry’s spiral started after he accepted political donations from Chagoury throughout a 2016 fundraiser in Los Angeles. Chagoury funneled the cash to Fortenberry’s marketing campaign by means of strawmen. Chagoury’s contributions to Fortenberry and different politicians triggered a federal investigation.
Fortenberry “didn't have interaction on this wrongdoing out of an pressing monetary want or due to an aberrant life circumstance,” prosecutors wrote of their sentencing memo. “Moderately, he was motivated by plain, egocentric want to cling to his standing as a strong federal official.”
Fortenberry’s trial was the primary of a sitting congressman since Rep. Jim Traficant, D-Ohio, was convicted of bribery and different felony costs in 2002.
Fortenberry’s legal professional, John Littrell, argued that the conviction has already devastated his consumer’s life by forcing him to resign from Congress, stripping away his proper to vote and personal firearms, and placing his federal pension in danger.
“The painful collateral penalties of this conviction have already achieved any deterrence that this prosecution may obtain,” Littrell wrote in a counter transient. “There isn't any hazard to the general public. Mr. Fortenberry has led a unprecedented and rigorously law-abiding life over his sixty-one years. He'll proceed to do good for others.”
Fortenberry’s departure creates an uncommon state of affairs within the district, which was redrawn by state lawmakers in September as a part of the once-a-decade redistricting course of.
The brand new districts went into impact instantly after lawmakers and Gov. Pete Ricketts permitted them, which modified the realm and a number of the constituents that Fortenberry represented, stated Cindi Allen, a spokeswoman for Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale.
Flood and Pansing Brooks are working within the new district, with some new constituents that weren’t eligible to vote for Fortenberry throughout his final election in 2020.