re: #85 austin_blue

I don’t want to get into an argument about this, and I will agree that the prison time for Jefferson and Manafort are inappropriate, but Jefferson was a flat out crook who used his office to make money. I lived in New Orleans when he ran for Mayor and got a flyer that said that his opponent, being creole (mixed race) was not Negro enough to be elected. He was also caught with several tens of thousands of dollars in Zip-Lock bags in his freezer at his house. He was totally on the grift.

He deserved what he got. Manafort deserved more than he got.

Don’t try to make Jefferson some kind of martyr. He was filthy.

And I’ll up it a bit more: both deserve way more time in prison than they got (and hopefully Manafort gets a lot more in the sentencing on his other trial).

Jefferson, as you said, was a fucking master of graft, honed and perfected over decades in office; for that gross violation of his office and of the public trust, thirteen years was fucking light.

That said, the stark difference in their sentences does give ample reason for pause.