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Monday, August 10, 2009
Councilman's Aide Sentenced To 4 Years In Prison
Chris Wright [File photo]

Chris Wright, the former chief of staff for City Councilman Jack Kelly, was sentenced this afternoon to four years in federal prison after his conviction in February on bribery and other corruption charges.  U.S. District Justice Eduardo Robreno handed down the sentence after a hearing that took up most of the morning.

Wright received less time than prosecutors wanted but much more than his defense attorney hoped for.  His potential prison term was a moving target. Robreno concluded today that federal guidelines for the prison term should be 51-63 months, more than he eventually got. Prosecutors were seeking 78 months -- six and a half years -- in prison for Wright.  His attorney, Lisa Mathewson, argued today that Wright should receive home confinement or, at the most, one year and one day in prison.  A probation officer had recommended 27-33 months in prison for Wright.

Former state Sen. Vince Fumo's recent controversial sentence of 55 months entered into the fray last week when prosecutors called his 55 month prison sentence, handed down by a different federal judge, a "travesty" that should not be repeated in the Wright case.  They later dialed back the language in an amended filing but still used Fumo as an example of how not to deal with Wright.

Wright was convicted on Feb. 24 with Andy Teitelman and Ravinder Chawla. Chawla's brother, Hardeep, was acquitted. Teitelman was Kelly's campaign manager. Chawla was one of his most generous campaign contributors. They both will be sentenced next month. Wright received a rent-free apartment near Rittenhouse Square and free legal services from Chawla and Teitelman in return for help on real estate, zoning and tax issues, a jury concluded.

Wright went on unpaid leave one year ago from his $97,179-per-year job in Kelly's office after he was indicted.  Kelly, who secretly recorded conversations with Kelly and Chawla for federal investigators, quickly moved to fire him after his conviction.

Posted by Chris Brennan & Michael Hinkelman @ 12:44 PM  Permalink | 21 comments
Comments   
Posted 01:05 PM, 08/10/2009
fkdguy
a digrace! serves no real purpose to lock this guy up for that lenght of time. more money the taxpayers are on the hook for! shorter sentence and more community service for these non-viloent crimes and lock the real bad guys up for wayyyy longer.
Posted 01:18 PM, 08/10/2009
CleanupPhilly
This sentence is fair. Wright took his elected office and abused it, like Philly is Nigeria. NO, folks, NOT how we're going to do things. Fumo is going to get re-sentenced, so don't cry too much about how one should use the other as a guide.
Posted 01:49 PM, 08/10/2009
SlinkTMP
You are both right. Crime is crime. If you commit a crime, you should pay for it. Wright should go to jail and "non-violent" criminals (not the title of criminal) should also go to jail longer. I do not want blue collar crimes going unpunished so someone else can be in prison. The prison systems should be looked into and they should remove cable TV for recreational purposes. These killers in maximum sentence deathj rows should be allowed one or 2 appeals before4 their sentence is delivered. It costs anywhere from 30 to 50 K per year to house an inmate, which grows for criminals in higher security and death row prisons. Video conferencing should be used as much as possible for these criminals that constantly want to appeal their sentences, costing the taxpayer more money. transporting inmates in very costly. Lets face it, the judicial system is broken, and in Philly it may be worse. If you get a DUI in most counties in PA, you go to jail with a mandatory sentence delivered by the state. For 3 DUIs, you go to jail for 1 year. If you get that same DUI in Philadelphia county, you will probably get 90 days on the weekends. Just look into it. Most of these guys show up for the weekend drunk and they drive there with suspended licenses. What is going to stop this guy(s) from killing your kid while playing in the street? How about keeping these guys from committing 4 DUIs? How about the guys that killed the Philly cops? They were violent offenders and they were out on the streets, with illegal guns. I feel safe. Lets face it. A crime is a crime.
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Posted 02:22 PM, 08/10/2009
slaw
This is a disgrace.This case should have ended up with community service. I do agree with FKDGUY .Stop wasting our tax dollars for a stupid case like this.Look at Fumo case Millions of dollars and 55 months sentence . This was the worst desicion anybody could make. And cleanup philly no matter you are in philly or nigeria cases like this should be judged with really common sense. If you have followed this case closely and imagine yourself in that position you would realize what a tough judgement he got. Wow philli be aware you might be next
Posted 02:36 PM, 08/10/2009
jbone509
how does this guy get 4 years and Fumo 55 months? there's a thing called precedent and it obviously wasnt taken into consideration.
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Posted 03:17 PM, 08/10/2009
yawns
Don't stop investigating city council, many more fish to fry!
Posted 03:55 PM, 08/10/2009
slaw
Depends on the corruption i do agree with you LJL. But i am still trying to understand the apartment was inhabitable as per the records of L&I and others didnt even own the apartment building for an hour according to the court and the title records,The check which was given to him was declared by chris on his returns according to court. where is the corruption.That means no police or any other city official are allowed to get gifts from there friends even if they declare it .Chis was just a cheif of staff for the council man. who has no powers to make any desicions. They should have some consideration on this that is just my opinion.
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About Chris Brennan and Catherine Lucey
PhillyClout
Chris Brennan, a native Philadelphian and graduate of Temple University, joined the Daily News in 1999. He has written about SEPTA, the Philadelphia School District, the legalization of casino gambling, state government, the mayor, the governor, City Council and political campaigns.

Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002. Since then she has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. For the past two years, she covered the 2007 mayoral election. Now that the battle is over, she has moved down to the City Hall bureau where she will report on the Nutter administration.
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