Feds Wants Prison Time for Del. Businessman Tigani

[longnecker]

DOVER, Del. (AP) - Federal prosecutors say a Delaware businessman who pleaded guilty in an illegal campaign finance scheme deserves prison time, not home confinement.


In papers filed in federal court in Wilmington this week, prosecutors say Christopher Tigani deserves a prison sentence of at least 25 months. They say such a sentence would send a message that engaging in political corruption has serious consequences.
Tigani faces up to 16 years in prison when he is sentenced March 6.
He pleaded guilty in June to using his family's alcoholic beverage distributorship to make illegal campaign contributions to state and federal candidates. Court records suggest that some of those contributions went to the 2008 presidential campaign of Vice President Joe Biden.
Prosecutors say Tigani's request for home confinement minimizes the seriousness of his crimes.
http://www.wboc.com/story/17046019/f...nessman-tigani

[Brainstorm]

So his offenses result in a possible sentence of 16 years and even the feds are only asking for about two?

I know he gets "credit" for co-operating but even so, that seems pretty extreme--- only 13% of the possible sentence? Maybe I'm forgetting the details, but I don't recall that other prosecutions resulted from his co-operation which sometimes accounts for greater leniency.

In any case, a discount of 87% sure makes it seem like his crimes are seen as no big deal.

[longnecker]

Feds: Tigani bragged he had pull with Bidens

Court documents indicate the depth of pay-to-play politics in Delaware
Liquor executive and convicted felon Christopher Tigani was so proud of his political clout with Delaware's most powerful politicians, he bragged to the president of Anheuser-Busch in 2008 that he and the St. Louis beer company could exercise their influence "as needed," according to a court filing by the acting U.S. Attorney for Delaware.
In a reference to Vice President Joe Biden's presidential primary campaign in 2007, Tigani wrote the following year: "I was the number one fundraiser for [the candidate's] bid and will play a role in his new campaign as well as his son's role as a future Senator," according to a written response by Acting U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss to a sentencing memorandum filed by Tigani last week.
"They are very good and close friends and I know that we can take advantage of that relationship as needed," the filing said.
Tigani, who pleaded guilty to campaign finance fraud and tax evasion last year, later reversed himself regarding the email claim to federal investigators, telling agents he never actually gained access to the Bidens or tried to take advantage of their relationship, the filing said.
Calls to Vice President Biden's office were not returned.
Joe Rogalsky, who was spokesman for Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden's 2010 campaign, said: "Campaign records indicate that Chris Tigani raised less than 1 percent of contributions to Biden for Attorney General." Beau Biden decided not to run for U.S. Senate.
Anheuser-Busch did not respond to a request for comment. Weiss declined to comment. Tigani refused to comment, as did his lawyer, Virginia Gibson.
Weiss, who is asking that Tigani be sentenced to 25 months, paints a fascinating picture in his filing of how Tigani skillfully worked the political system to gain favors and influence legislation that affected the liquor industry, such as the passage of Sunday liquor sales and defeat of higher excise taxes.
Tigani, who made more than $200,000 in illegal campaign contributions to federal and state elected officials, admitted he sought to gain political access. The businessman told agents he did call in some favors at the state level, including getting a low-number license plate for his father's scooter, according to the filing.
http://www.delawareonline.com/articl...nclick_check=1

[EpicWin]

gives him plenty of time to practice grabbing his ankles.

[Tralee]

Well, he did apparently cooperate, but like Brainstorm, what else has happened? I don't recall any warrants or subpoenas being issued for anyone. Minner comes to mind with the air travel and all. I sure would be interested in knowing just who Beau is actually going to look into. After all, that's family, right? Norm is a pretty fair and balanced person and I can't recall his political bent but I'm guessing slightly conservative just from talking to him about other things, so if anything is to come of it he will need the cooperation of the office of the Atty. General. We may have to keep our eyes on this one. I don't have complete faith in Beau Biden actually moving against any democrat.

[Chase]

well he got 2 years

Written by
SEAN O’SULLIVAN and MAUREEN MILFORD
The News Journal


WILMINGTON -- Liquor executive Christopher Tigani, 41, a once wealthy and politically connected businessman, will serve two years in prison as punishment for campaign finance and tax evasion schemes.

The circumstances “paint a picture of a man who felt entitled,” U.S. Chief District Judge Gregory M. Sleet said today.

Tigani, who wined and dined state officials and lawmakers at football games, concerts and other events, had requested his sentence be reduced to home confinement and community service, in part, because of his extensive assistance with federal and state investigations into campaign fundraising activities.

Tigani gets 2 years in prison | The News Journal | delawareonline.com

[longnecker]

Tigani can expect a limited and demeaning life in prison
Four short years after buying one of northern Delaware's most-famous mansions, disgraced liquor sales executive Christopher Tigani is about to move into one of the U.S. Justice Department's most- humbling addresses.
Tigani received a two-year prison term last week for tax fraud and federal campaign-finance violations that extended to Joe Biden's presidential primary campaign. The sentences capped a federal probe that revealed Tigani as a businessman caught up in a lavish, drug- and alcohol-infused lifestyle and bent on using his wealth and political connections -- including with former Gov. Ruth Ann Minner -- to advance his own interests.
It was a destructive path that will end on April 9 at a still- undetermined Bureau of Prisons site, where all of the wealth Tigani gained and lost through his leadership of N.K.S. Distributors will mean nothing.
"There's no country club prison, no 'Club Fed' like you picture in your mind," said Patrick Boyce, a former federal prison inmate who now counsels those in, or heading for, prison.
"More than likely, being he's a nonviolent first-time offender with a short sentence, he'll get sent to a federal prison camp. They're the least restrictive of all the federal facilities. There aren't any gun towers, but make no mistake, it's a prison."
It will be a far cry from the 20,000-square-foot, $4.1 million Westover Hills mansion that Tigani purchased in 2008 and lost to a Bankruptcy Court auction last year. That came after he lost control of N.K.S. and after he was targeted in a federal investigation of business and political dealings.
12 cents an hour

Boyce described Tigani's future temporary home as a cramped and humorless lockup. Inmates are counted obsessively, several times a day, with arriving prisoners put to work almost immediately for as little as 12 cents an hour, doing what are basic and initially menial jobs, such as cleaning toilets and showers.
Formal, guard-enforced rules govern every movement. Informal, inmate-enforced customs govern other activities, from cutting in line or reaching across another man's food tray to borrowing personal-care items. read more
http://www.delawareonline.com/articl...nclick_check=1