I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison Tuesday and fined $250,000 for perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to federal investigators.
{mosads}Judge Reggie B. Walton said before issuing the verdict that he handed the time down with “a sense of sadness” because of Libby’s distinguished career in government service.
“I have an individual I have to sentence … I appreciate that sometimes people make mistakes,” he said, but added that Libby failed to meet the high standards of his position: “Mr. Libby failed to meet the bar.”
Libby is the lone White House official sentenced in relation to the leaking of the name of former CIA operative Valerie Plame.
“He decided to reveal this individual’s name to the media on several occasions,” Walton said, before handing down the sentencing.
Libby, who was sentenced to the low end of what the prosecution had wanted, did not apologize or show remorse in his short remarks, during which he thanked the court and its employees for their kindness and asked that Walton “will consider, along with the jury verdict, my whole life.”
Libby’s legal team had argued that Cheney’s former aide should be spared jail time because of his lifelong commitment to public service, his mounting legal fees and the loss of his law license.
“If a person has engaged in exceptional efforts to help others in society, those personal and exceptional efforts can be considered by the sentencing court,” said Ted Wells, Libby’s defense attorney.