Nofziger ‘Lack of Remorse’ Justifies Prison--McKay

Former Reagan aide Lyn Nofziger should be imprisoned because he showed a “total lack of remorse” when convicted of illegally lobbying the White House, independent counsel James C. McKay said today in court papers.

McKay recommended that Nofziger receive a prison term for three counts of violating the Ethics in Government Act to “impress present and former government employees, as well as the general public, that Congress intended those restrictions be taken seriously and that they will be enforced with meaningful penalties.”

The prosecutor noted that Nofziger, 63, former White House political director, likened his crime to “running a stop sign” after his conviction Feb. 11 on three counts of illegal lobbying his former agency within a year of leaving government.

‘Intransigent Attitude’

“Since being found guilty, defendant Nofziger has made a number of remarks showing a total lack of remorse or contrition for his offenses,” McKay said in a sentencing memo to U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Flannery.

“That intransigent attitude is a consideration arguing in favor of a sentence that includes a period of incarceration,” McKay said.

As further evidence of Nofziger’s lack of contrition, McKay quoted a Feb. 18 letter to the court in which Nofziger wrote: “I have never thought, and I do not think today, that I am guilty morally, ethically or legally of the crimes of which I am convicted.”

Nofziger is scheduled to be sentenced April 11 and could receive two-year prison terms and a $10,000 fine for each of the three convictions of illegally lobbying on behalf of Wedtech Corp., a maritime engineers union and the manufacturer of the Air Force A-10 anti-tank plane.

‘Epitomized ... Danger’

In addition to an unspecified prison term, McKay recommended “that an appropriate fine be imposed for each violation and that the fines be imposed cumulatively for the three violations.”

“Nofziger’s special entree to the most powerful officials in government, including the President himself, epitomized the very danger to public perception about the integrity of governmental decision-making that motivated Congress to enact the one-year no-contact prohibition,” McKay said.