Former state Senate Democratic Leader Robert J. Mellow has been sentenced to 16 months in federal prison, followed by three years supervised release.
A tearful Mr. Mellow apologized and begged the court for mercy. His attorneys said he has heart disease, and that his 40-year career in public service, a need to care for an ill adult daughter and record of charity should earn Mr. Mellow probation rather than prison time.
U.S. District Judge Joel H. Slomsky said Mr. Mellow's age and civic and charity work do not excuse his crimes. He said Mr. Mellow "did a lot of good," but that his sentence had to serve as a deterrent to other who might break the law.
Mr. Mellow, 69, pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit mail fraud for using taxpayer-paid Senate staffers to do political campaign work and for filing a bogus tax return that under-reported how much money he made when he sold the building housing his Blakely Senate office.
The judge said 200 letters attesting to Mr. Mellow's good character - written by college professors, former and current public officials and business leaders - will be released to the public.
In a carefully crafted plea agreement, federal prosecutors secured Mr. Mellow's admission to the crimes while avoiding a grand jury indictment and possible jury trial, which could have exposed a wider scope of the government's investigation of him through witness testimony and presentation of evidence.
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