Illegal Donor to N.J. Senator Sentenced
May 23, 2002
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) _ The man at the center of the criminal inquiry into the 1996 campaign of Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in federal prison for illegal donations.
Businessman David Chang was also fined $20,000 and barred from political fund-raising, one day after filing court papers in which he claimed the freshman senator had threatened his life and urged him to lie to investigators.
The sentencing was the last major event in the three-year investigation into Torricelli’s finances, prompting U.S. District Judge Alfred Wolin to say that “another sordid chapter in the history of American politics is laid to rest.″
The probe closed in January without charges against Torricelli, who is seeking re-election this fall and has denied knowing anything about the illegal donations. Prosecutors gave their material to the Senate ethics committee, which is looking into the matter.
“Despite constant attacks on my credibility by the senator, I want the court and the world to know that all the details I gave the government were true and accurate,″ Chang said.
The judge, however, said Chang’s “deceptive and obstructive″ behavior ruined him as a potential witness in any trial. No indictments were returned after Chang’s plea.
“His attempt to manipulate a United States senator through expensive gifts in connection with a North Korean grain deal, and the purchase of a South Korean insurance company, betrays Chang’s self-styled aura of a reputable and honest businessman,″ Wolin said.
Chang could have been sentenced to 27 months in prison under federal guidelines.
In a statement, Torricelli said: “David Chang has now been caught in his own web of lies. Today, justice was served.″
Chang, a naturalized citizen born in China and raised in South Korea, was one of the biggest political donors in the United States. He gave more than $300,000 to political causes between 1996 and 1998, mostly to the Democratic Party.
Chang admitted making $53,700 in illegal contributions to Torricelli. In court papers, Chang said the two met in 1995, when Torricelli was a congressman, and that the politician later demanded gratuities including donations, expensive gifts and jewelry.
In exchange, Chang asked Torricelli for help in recouping about $71 million he was owed for grain shipped to the North Korean government and with buying a bankrupt South Korean insurance company, Daehan.
Torricelli wrote at least one letter on Chang’s behalf, and introduced him to South Korea’s finance minister. The senator has portrayed the actions as routine constituent service.
In a legal brief seeking leniency at sentencing, Chang said Torricelli urged him to leave the country rather than cooperate with the investigation and asked him to falsely claim the cash and gratuities were loans.
Chang also accused Torricelli of threatening him by talking about friends with organized crime connections and following him into a convenience store with a prominent waste disposal contractor.
“Senator Torricelli repeatedly warned him that his life would be in danger if he cooperated with the government,″ Chang’s lawyer, Bradley D. Simon, wrote in the memorandum. “He specifically told Mr. Chang that he had friends in high-ranking positions within the Newark FBI who would frustrate any attempts to bring the investigation to the senator’s level.″
https://apnews.com/article/927edb9be84bdedf4a792d0eef67f10f
actually that would be q letting warroom that OSS and his crew may not be who they seem to say they are… anons in wolfs clothing?
ever notice q and Q+ post in deltas around warroom postings. I do. so does NS
ask NS about Gerbil
What does Gerbil Really Know?
Who trained gerbil in digital warfare?
learn their comms, while you still can.
THANK YOU Q
-o7