Tough Sentence Urged for Cunningham

Federal prosecutors Tuesday reaffirmed their recommendation that disgraced former Rep. Randall “Duke” Cunningham be sentenced to 10 years in prison, rejecting his bid for a lighter penalty because he is a war hero.

In a 14-page report, three assistant U.S. attorneys noted that an appellate court rejected leniency for another Vietnam veteran despite his heroism during the My Lai massacre.

The filing sets the stage for a decision Friday by U.S. District Judge Larry A. Burns.

Cunningham, a Rancho Santa Fe Republican, has pleaded guilty to taking $2.4 million in bribes and evading more than $1 million in taxes.

Prosecutors Sanjay Bhandari, Jason Forge and Phillip L.B. Halpern said that Cunningham “bullied and hectored” Pentagon officials to award contracts to the defense contractors who bribed him. Cunningham’s only motivation “was to ensure that his co-conspirators gorged themselves at the national trough, regardless of the national interest.”

Cunningham’s attorneys have argued that Burns should consider Cunningham’s record as a decorated fighter pilot during the Vietnam War “when he saved the lives of his fellow Americans at great risk to his own.”

Awarded the Navy Cross, the service’s second-highest medal for bravery, Cunningham later taught at the Top Gun school. His fame, which was boosted by the 1986 movie “Top Gun” starring Tom Cruise, propelled him into politics.

But the prosecutors noted that Cunningham’s last display of heroism was three decades ago and that his crimes were part of a scheme to enrich himself by exploiting his membership on congressional committees dedicated to national security.

Cunningham, 64, resigned from Congress in the middle of his eighth term after pleading guilty in November. He represented a district in the affluent suburb of northern San Diego County.

Defense attorneys K. Lee Blalack, Mark Holscher and Kristina M. Hersey argued in a filing last week that a six-year sentence is more appropriate given Cunningham’s war record, his lack of criminal background, his advanced age and declining health. Cunningham has undergone surgery for prostate cancer.

“If Mr. Cunningham is sentenced to six years in jail, the United States can rightly boast that it secured an unprecedented, even historic, punishment,” Cunningham’s attorneys argued.

No member of Congress convicted of corruption has ever received a sentence as long as six years, the defense attorneys wrote, adding that a 10-year sentence would probably be a death sentence but six years would allow him “a few short years” with his family.

As part of his plea agreement, the prosecution agreed not to seek a prison sentence of more than 10 years. In that agreement, Cunningham pledged to help with the prosecution of his four unidentified co-conspirators.

Prosecutors said in their filing that Cunningham could have received a sentence of more than 20 years without the plea agreement.

Last week, defense contractor Mitchell Wade pleaded guilty to bribing Cunningham with more than $1 million by paying an inflated price for his home in Del Mar Heights and allowing him to live rent-free on a yacht in the Potomac River, among other items.

No charges have been brought against any other unidentified co-conspirators but the investigation continues, prosecutors said.