Kane sentencing set for Monday

HARRISBURG - It was almost exactly four years ago that Kathleen Kane made history, becoming the first woman and Democrat elected as the state's top law enforcement officer.

Some predicted she was destined for bigger things - a U.S. Senate seat, or a stint in the governor's office.

On Monday, the road could lead her where no one had predicted: prison.

Kane, 50, is scheduled to appear before a Montgomery County judge to be sentenced for abusing her position as Pennsylvania's attorney general to exact revenge on enemies and then lying about it under oath.

Her attorneys are asking Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy to sentence Kane to house arrest. They describe her as a kind and selfless woman who has done much good in her life, only to suffer "a tremendous fall from grace."

They say she made a grave mistake - one for which she feels deep remorse.

Prosecutors want a "significant and stiff" sentence for Kane and scoff at the idea that she has come to terms with her wrongdoing. In fact, they noted that Kane, on her last day in office, told reporters. "I have no regrets. . . . We've done our best, and, you know, sometimes the price is high."

State law imposes a maximum sentence of seven years in prison for perjury - Kane's most serious offense. But sentencing guidelines, although only advisory, call for a judge to impose a sentence somewhere between probation and nine months for someone such as Kane without a criminal record.

Legal experts and others say avoiding some jail time might well be difficult, given Kane's status as both a onetime elected official and a top law enforcement officer who took an oath, which she broke, to uphold the law.

"Betrayals of public trust occupy a special place in sentencing calculations," said Daniel Richman, a former federal prosecutor who is now a professor at Columbia University Law School.

In his presentencing memo to the judge, Kane's new attorney, Marc Robert Steinberg, asked that his client be given credit for her public stands, such as her support for marriage equality and gun control.

But it's unclear whether the judge will take that record in account. In many past cases involving public officials, prosecutors have argued that their public roles meant their misconduct deserved harsher punishment, not mercy.

In Kane's case, 29 people have written letters on her behalf, including her mother, older brother, sister-in-law, an aunt, three cousins, friends, and former coworkers, asking Demchick-Alloy to show leniency.

Kane grew increasingly politically isolated as her legal problems multiplied, and the latest written show of support was notable for the relative silence from public figures.

In letters laced with emotion, her allies wrote that Kane is the primary caregiver for her two teenage sons, and that a jail sentence would devastate them. Kane filed for divorce from her husband in 2014, and the two share custody of the children.

"I've watched her lose so much," Ruth Kechejian Lenahan, a close friend and former coworker, wrote of Kane. ". . . It is enough Judge. She is as strong a woman as I have ever encountered and she has paid a dear price, but to take her away from those beautiful boys is not just."

Kane did not take the stand during her trial. Steinberg would not say whether he expects her to testify during her sentencing hearing.

Demchick-Alloy, a Republican, was elected to the bench in 2009 after working for 18 years as a prosecutor in Philadelphia and Montgomery County. At times, she seemed impatient with the defense team during the August trial and issued key rulings that Kane's attorneys complained hamstrung them.

During Kane's trial, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele repeatedly referred to the damage Kane caused when she orchestrated an illegal leak of confidential information in a bid to make a former state prosecutor and her perceived nemesis, Frank Fina, look bad.

Kane arranged to have grand jury documents about an old investigation Fina once handled delivered to the Philadelphia Daily News. The documents showed that the late former Philadelphia NAACP leader, J. Whyatt Mondesire, had been investigated by Fina for financial irregularities, although never charged with any crimes.

In the process, Steele said, she damaged Mondesire's reputation. During the trial, Mondesire's fiancee testified that Mondesire was not the same after the Daily News, citing sources, wrote a story about the old inquiry. Mondesire died shortly after.

The last attorney general to be convicted of a crime was Ernest Preate Jr., who served 11 months behind bars after he pleaded guilty to a corruption charge in 1995.

In an interview, Preate said Kane's misconduct had "real victims."

"The judge is going to look at the enormity of the impact her actions had on the office, on the judicial system, on the courts, and on the public's confidence in her and her judgment."

Preate said Kane may have done herself further harm when she told reporters she had no regrets.

"You are asking the judge to give you a break - but you have to own up that you did something wrong," he said.

acouloumbis@phillynews.com

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@AngelasInk