Former GOP Lawmaker Gets 8 Years

Cunningham Also Must Pay Back Millions for Bribery and Tax Offenses

By Sonya Geis and Charles R. Babcock
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, March 4, 2006; Page A01

SAN DIEGO, March 3 -- Former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a decorated fighter pilot in Vietnam who admitted taking $2.4 million in bribes from two defense contractors, was sentenced Friday to eight years and four months in federal prison for selling his office.



U.S. District Judge Larry A. Burns imposed the sentence after prosecutors argued for the maximum 10 years and defense attorneys suggested that six years was enough because Cunningham, 64, is suffering from various physical ailments, as well as depression. The California Republican resigned from Congress after pleading guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy to commit bribery in November.

Appearing much thinner than he did last fall, Cunningham choked up as he addressed the judge. "No man has ever been more sorry," he said. "I made a very wrong turn. I rationalized decisions I knew were wrong. I did that, sir."

Burns said the amount of money Cunningham took "emasculates" previous bribery crimes. Noting that he, too, raised a family on a government salary, the judge said he understood wanting "the good things in life." But Burns added: "You weren't wet. You weren't cold. You weren't hungry, and yet you did these things."

In a related development, the CIA's inspector general is looking into whether Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, the agency's executive director and its third-ranking official, arranged for any contracts to be given to companies associated with Brent Wilkes, one of the contractors identified as having made payments to Cunningham. Foggo, a senior intelligence officer handling complex clandestine contracts, is an old friend of Wilkes from their high school and college days. The investigation was first reported by Newsweek.

"It is standard practice . . . to look into assertions that mention agency officers. That should in no way be seen as lending credibility to any allegation," the CIA said in a statement. "Mr. Foggo has overseen many contracts in his decades of public service. He reaffirms that they were properly awarded and administered."

In the San Diego courtroom, Cunningham wiped away tears when his attorney, K. Lee Blalack II of Washington, referred to the former congressman's wartime service, which included shooting down five enemy planes over Vietnam and being shot down himself. "There are men in this courtroom who are walking around and breathing because Duke Cunningham put his life at risk," Blalack said.

Blalack said Cunningham already had suffered greatly. "This man has been humiliated beyond belief by his own hand. He is estranged from those he loves most and cares most about," Blalack said. "All his worldly possessions are gone. He will carry a crushing tax debt until the day he dies. He will go to jail until he's 70 years old."

But prosecutor Jason A. Forge said Cunningham should not get a break, pointing out that he spent months denying the allegations after they appeared last June.

"As these crimes are unprecedented, so, too, should be his punishment," prosecutor Philip Halpern told the judge. He said that Cunningham "was squandering precious tax dollars for, among other things, systems the military didn't ask for, didn't need and frequently didn't use."

The judge recommended the prison term be served in a federal facility near Bakersfield, Calif. In addition, Burns ordered that Cunningham pay $1.8 million in back taxes and penalties plus $1.85 million in restitution based on the bribes he received.

Cunningham's greed was unparalleled, according to prosecutors, who detailed in two pre-sentencing memos what they would have presented at trial.

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