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Former PA Attorney General Kathleen Kane Gets Prison Term
Former PA Attorney General Kathleen Kane Gets Prison Term
Former PA Attorney General Kathleen Kane Gets Prison Term
Four years ago, Kane, a former assistant district attorney in Lackawanna County, defeated
Republican David Freed as a political rookie.
State Democrats quickly pegged Kane as one of the party's rising stars. But halfway through her
term, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran a story with the headline: "Sources: Kathleen Kane shut down
probe of Philly Democrats."
That's where the trouble started. The article outlined an investigation launched by Kane's
predecessor, former Chief Deputy Attorney General Frank G. Fina, into politicians caught in a sting
accepting local bribes. In emails cited in the complaint, an irate Kane vowed to wage "war" with
Fina, a criminal complaint later said.
Kane, though, strongly denied the allegations ahead of the trial -- even as Democrats like Gov. Tom
Wolf urged her to resign.
"A resignation would be an admission of guilt and I'm not guilty," Kane said in a statement in August
ahead of her trial.
A jury found Kane guilty of felony counts of perjury and obstruction. She resigned that same week.
In Kane's sentencing memo, her attorney argued to the judge that the former attorney general has
been punished enough since she had to step down from elected office and could be disbarred given
her status as a now convicted felon. In addition, prosecutors said Kane, who wants to focus on
parenting her two teenage sons, was not at risk of re-offending, nor was she a threat to society.
After the article, Kane leaked sealed, confidential grand jury documents conducted under Fina that
looked into whether J. Wyatt Mondesire, the former leader of the NAACP's Philadelphia chapter,
misused grant money, the complaint said. Fina's investigation never led to criminal charges against
Mondesire, the complaint said.
But Steele wrote in a sentencing memo that Kane deserved prison since she eroded the public's
confidence in the attorney general's office, according to KYW. Beyond that, Steele noted that
Mondesire, who was never charged of a crime, had lost his job, saw his health decline, and died
nearly two years later.
On Monday, Judge Demchick-Alloy weighed whether Kane would serve time behind bars, remain
under house arrest or simply get probation.