Tom Delay out of jail pending appeal,An unrepentant Tom DeLay was sentenced Monday to three years in prison, hustled from the courtroom by Travis County deputies but released on a $10,000 appeal bond before the end of the day.

"I fought the fight. I ran the race. I kept the faith," DeLay told the judge before the sentence was handed down.

State District Judge Pat Priest of San Antonio said he believed DeLay conspired to launder $190,000 of corporate money into campaign donations during the 2002 election by funneling it through the Republican National Committee. Texas law forbids corporate donations to candidates.

A Travis County jury convicted DeLay in November, but the former U.S. House majority leader chose to have the judge set the punishment.

Priest said Monday there is no more basic standard than that those who write the laws must follow the law. He also said he didn't believe DeLay's argument that prosecutors picked him out for selective prosecution. The judge cited the testimony of a Republican National Committee leader who said he had never done a money exchange like the one he did for DeLay's political committee.

"I agree with the jury's verdict," Priest said.

With that, Priest sentenced DeLay to three years in prison on the conspiracy charge. He also suspended a five-year sentence on the money-laundering count, putting DeLay on 10 years probation for that charge. No fine was levied.

DeLay will remain out of jail pending his appeal.

"This will not stand," vowed Dick DeGuerin, DeLay's lawyer.

Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg said the sentence sent a simple message.

"Corporate contributions are illegal in Texas. You can't give them to candidates directly, and you can't give it to them indirectly," she said. "And if you violate the law, you will be punished."

She praised her team of prosecutors for presenting a complicated case.

The case has consumed eight years and is far from over. Besides DeLay's appeals, his two indicted co-conspirators, John Colyandro of Austin and Jim Ellis of Washington, are set for trial in April.

DeLay's trial focused on what he knew about the money exchange and when he knew it. Monday's hearing focused on whether DeLay had accepted responsibility for his actions and felt any remorse.

"I can't be remorseful for something I think I didn't do," DeLay told the judge.

DeLay told the judge that Democrats had targeted him for years. He said he had had ethics charges filed against him every election cycle and that all had been dismissed.

He said he had raised and spent $10 million on legal fees over the years and still owes money to lawyers.

He said he's not rich: "I've got some friends who help me pay bills."

He acknowledged that the U.S. House ethics committee once admonished him for his actions surrounding a golfing fundraiser and using the Federal Aviation Administration to track a plane believed to be ferrying Texas Democratic lawmakers out of state when they boycotted the Legislature during a 2003 redistricting battle.

He likened the admonishment to "a warning ticket."

DeLay, labeled "The Hammer" for his leadership style during his 22 years in Congress, said he is "guilty" of being arrogant at times but "I like to think of it as 'Texas cocky.'"

But he said he never intended to break the law and he believes retired Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, a Democrat, targeted him for political reasons.

Once he was indicted, DeLay was forced to resign his leadership post in Congress. He retired in 2006 in the middle of a re-election battle.

He has largely withdrawn from public life other than appearances as a contestant on the TV show "Dancing With the Stars" and as a defendant in court.

"If I didn't have a strong family, I probably would have lost it," DeLay said.

Former U.S. Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, was one of two witnesses Monday. He testified that his friend had purpose, passion and persistence in carrying out his duties in Congress.

He described DeLay as a religious man who raised money for foster children, who fought for his constituents and his conservative beliefs, and who was wrongly labeled as power hungry.

Hastert noted that DeLay was next in line to be speaker, but he stepped aside for Hastert because DeLay thought he was too divisive to lead the U.S. House of Representatives.

Prosecutors offered as evidence the House ethics committee's 2004 letter admonishing DeLay, the defendant's book, "No Retreat, No Surrender," and his comment after his conviction: "Maybe we can get it before people who understand the law."

Prosecutors sought a 10-year prison sentence for DeLay.

Arguing against probation, prosecutor Gary Cobb predicted that DeLay would use that kind of sentence to make light of the guilty verdict and make himself a martyr: "He will wear that probation like Jesus Christ with a crown on the cross."


source : statesman