23 February 2015
Wife of former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell’s wife Maureen was sentence to 12 months and 1 day for taking bribes from a businessman. She was also sentenced to two years on probation after release from the prison.
Her husband, Robert McDonnell was sentenced to 2 years in prison last month. He was charged on 11 counts of corruption. He is out of prison pending his appeal.
The couple is said to have accepted $165, 000 in gifts and loan from Star Scentific’s CEO Jonnie Williams in exchange for promoting his company’s key product, the Anatabloc.
The trial had caused a rift in their marriage. The couple is said to be living apart. Both remain free pending appeals.
Before the sentencing, she asked leniency from the judge , “My marriage is broken, my family is hurting and my reputation is in shatters.”. This was punishment enough.
The judge noted before sentencing that she had “a downward spiral in sync with the governor’s rise in politics”. He added that she had become so bedazzled by material possessions that she could no longer see what was appropriate and what was not.
The couple threw a lunch party for Anatablock, at the Virginia Governor’s mansion in Richmond.
This is an update of my previous posts:
“US: Former Virginia Governor’s corruption trial” and USA: Former Virginia Governor guilty of corruption
