Kemp Gets 10 years ( I guess that new deck on the back of his house isn't going to get much use)

Reprinted from Philly.com
Corey Kemp sentenced to 10 yearsBy John ShiffmanInquirer Staff Writer
A federal judge sentenced former City Treasurer Corey Kemp to 10 years in prison today, saying he “engaged in a corruption scheme that damaged the citizens and the image of Philadelphia.”
“You not only cheated the city,” U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson told Kemp, “you cheated the state, the federal government and your church. It is very discouraging because you had so much promise. You have only yourself to blame.”
Addressing the court before he was sentenced, Kemp apologized “to my family, friends and the citizens of Philadelphia for having to endure this case.”
“I’m not here to dispute facts because I was convicted by a jury,” Kemp said before a courtroom jammed with friends, family, defense lawyers, FBI agents, court officials and journalists. “I’m asking for mercy. I made have mistakes but I did not have any criminal intent… I gave the my best effort to get the best deals for the city of Philadelphia.”
Knowing that Baylson had warned him to be prepared to face immediate imprisonment, Kemp asked to remain free on bail pending appeal, or at least long enough to say goodbye to his wife, mother and three small children.
Baylson declined. A U.S. deputy marshal handcuffed Kemp and led him from the courtroom.
Kemp was convicted in May of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, extortion, welfare fraud, filing false tax returns and other frauds. Jurors found that he accepted gifts, bribes, sporting tickets, a deck and $10,000 cash to steer municipal contracts to lawyer Ronald A. White, a Mayor Street confidant, and his allies. Kemp was also convicted of falsifying his income taxes, defrauding his church and a state welfare-to-work program.
“This is not just a case of Mr. Kemp getting dinners and tickets,” Baylson said. “He stole from his church ... a greedy crime.”
Kemp’s lawyer, L. George Parry, called it “a source of great frustration that I was not able to get the jury to agree with me” that his client didn’t break the law. "He simply played the pay-to-play game."
“All this is,” he said, “is political patronage, which is not illegal. ... That’s how we get U.S. attorneys, and dare I say it, how we get judges. ... If this were a baseball team, Corey Kemp would be the bat boy.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Zauzmer said what Kemp did was indeed illegal - he accepted bribes to help White secure business.
“Why? Because Ron White offered more to him than the fidelity and trust of the citizens of Philadelphia,” Zauzmer said. “He’s a criminal.”
Before he was sentenced, several of Kemp’s relatives and friends urged Baylson to allow him to remain free on bail, pending appeal.
Richard Kemp said: “My brother went to football and basketball games, and an All-Star-game and a Super Bowl. He had rich friends.”
“This is about a lot more that,” Baylson shot back. “He stole from his own church and people he worked with. ... It just defies reason to understand what happened.”
“I guess he got caught up with some bad people,” the brother replied.
Co-defendant Janice R. Knight, convicted of lying to FBI agents, was sentenced yesterday to five-and-a-half months in prison and fined $100,000. For more than a decade, Knight was White’s girlfriend.
Baylson permitted Knight to remain free until her appeals are resolved.
Three other defendants are to be sentenced later. Detroit businessman La-Van Hawkins will be sentenced on Aug. 16. Two Commerce Bank executives, Glenn Holck and Steve Umbrell, will probably be sentenced in October.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/12170010.htm