Feds reject former Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Mike Sanders' leniency plea [View all]

Federal prosecutors oppose a lenient sentence for former Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Mike Sanders, saying he should serve up to two years in prison for stealing campaign funds and using that cash to pay for “personal luxuries,” including a wine cellar that he had built in the basement of his Independence house.

The government’s stance runs counter to Sanders’ request that he receive probation or a sentence of no more than 18 months. If he is sent to prison, Sanders, 51, suggested he serve it at a federal prison camp in Yankton, S.D., that Forbes magazine called one of “America’s 10 cushiest prisons.”

In their sentencing memorandum filed Wednesday, prosecutors did not address where the former Jackson County executive should serve his time. But they argued against probation and said that 18 to 24 months was “appropriate” as punishment for his guilty plea last January to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

“The nature and circumstances of the offense demonstrate an egregious abuse of trust and a prolonged scheme to embezzle money,” prosecutors at the Justice Department’s public integrity section in Washington, D.C., argued in their court filing. “The characteristics of the defendant show the need for a term of imprisonment.”

Read more: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article218324970.html