Another Democratic Rising Star Going to Prison
Democratic rising star, former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane will be heading for prison to serve a 10 to 23 month prison sentence for leaking secret grand jury testimony and then lying about it. Kane who won election to become the first woman to hold that office in history thanks to her husband’s millions, was said to have destroyed morale in the 800 person agency before releasing the grand jury testimony in order to damage a political rival. She has posted bail and will not have to serve her time while appealing her case. The judge ordered her to give up her passport as the judge calls her a flight risk.
Kane will also serve 8 years of probation. Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy described Kane as a off with their heads mentality that caused confusion and havoc within the state’s Attorney Generals Office, and that’s what led to her downfall.
Kane has pleaded for home incarceration so she can care for her sons, ages 14 and 15. That request has been denied.
Prosecutors called her crimes ‘egregious’ and pushed for jail time. They said 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 didn’t testify at her trial. She was convicted in August of two felony counts of perjury and seven misdemeanor charges, and she resigned the next day.
On Monday, former deputy Clarke Madden said in court that a dark cloud permeated every corner of the attorney general’s office and victims, witnesses and other law enforcement agencies feared working with them.
‘Through a pattern of systemic firings and Nixonian espionage, she created a terror zone in this office,’ said Erik Olsen, a career prosecutor who is now the chief deputy attorney general.