RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Dinesh D'Souza sentenced to 5 years probation for campaign donation

NEW YORK, NY --- Following nearly three hours of compelling, wrangling, and heartfelt deliberations, author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza was sentenced on Tuesday to five years of probation. He will serve the first eight months in a community confinement center, as deemed by Judge Richard Berman in the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York.

D'Souza, 53, said he was thankful that Judge Berman passed a "fair judgment." Speaking on his behalf, D'Souza's attorney Benjamin Brafman said, "I've yet to find a case exactly like this that ends in a prison sentence, and I'm glad that this was not the first one. We are delighted that Judge Berman spared Mr. D'Souza."

Brafman cited several similar cases during D'Souza's sentencing in the federal courtroom, none of which ended in jail time. Brafman posited that a punishment of incarceration did not fit the crime for which D'Souza was being judged. In the end, Judge Berman agreed.

Judge Berman also took into consideration the fact that this was the 53-year-old D'Souza's first offense.

D'Souza was indicted by a federal grand jury in the beginning of this year for making straw donations – contributions in the names of other people – to a Republican Senatorial candidate running in the State of New York, Wendy E. Long – a move that is violation of federal campaign finance laws. D’Souza had, through two friends, donated $20,000 to Long's campaign, an amount which exceeds the $5,000 legal limit.

The esteemed author, filmmaker, and commentator was described as a "person who cares" and who is "good at heart." During the sentencing, D'Souza told Judge Berman, "I know what I did was wrong, and I am contrite about it."

In addition to his five-year probation sentencing and eight months of confinement in a community confinement center -- or restitution center, which will likely be completed in San Diego, California where D'Souza resides -- Judge Berman ordered D'Souza to undergo "therapeutic counseling." Berman also noted that during those five years, D'Souza must carry out community service by teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) for eight hours a day, one day a week.

Attorney Michael Gaynor, who was present at D'Souza's hearing as a spectator, told Breitbart News that "Dinesh D'Souza does not belong in jail." He also pointed out that he had never heard a judge sentence a defendant to therapeutic counseling.

Judge Berman also ruled that D'Souza must pay a $30,000 fine within 45 days. Berman, 71, was appointed to the court by President Bill Clinton.

Assistant U.S. Attorney and Prosecutor Carrie Cohen, who had from the start of the case outlined the U.S. Government's charge against D'Souza, argued during the sentencing that D'Souza's "actions were premeditated" and stated that "a prison sentence is sufficient."

Brafman rebutted that D'Souza's act was carried out "without premeditation" and noted that, if he had planned out said action, the $25K his client had withdrawn in one lump sum from his bank would have, in fact, been drawn out in increments of "under $10k at a time" in order to avoid a currency transaction report (CTR). Thus, Brafman argued that D'Souza did not act in a manner that was premeditated.

D'Souza admitted that, in the interest of time, he had not consulted attorneys in his decision to donate to Long's campaign in the way he did nor did he create a political action committee (PAC).

D'Souza, who is known for such documentary films as 2016: Obama's America (released in 2012) and America: Imagine a World Without Her, which hit theaters this year, is due back in court on October 15 for the finalization of details of his sentencing.

Reuters) - Conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza avoided prison on Tuesday when a U.S. judge sentenced him to serve eight months in a community confinement center after he pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance law.

D'Souza, 53, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan to live in a center, which would allow him to leave during non-residential hours for employment, for the first eight months of a five-year probationary period.

Berman also ordered D'Souza to perform one day of community service a week during probation, undergo weekly therapy and pay a $30,000 fine.

D'Souza, a frequent critic of U.S. President Barack Obama, admitted in May to illegally reimbursing two "straw donors" who donated $10,000 each to the unsuccessful 2012 U.S. Senate campaign in New York of Wendy Long, a Republican he had known since attending Dartmouth College in the early 1980s.

"It was a crazy idea, it was a bad idea," D'Souza told Berman before being sentenced. "I regret breaking the law."

Prosecutors had sought a 10-to 16-month prison sentence, rejecting defense arguments that D'Souza was "ashamed and contrite" about his crime and deserved probation with community service.

They cited statements D'Souza made in media interviews after his guilty plea, where he discussed being "selectively" targeted for prosecution.

Berman appeared to accept the prosecutors' position, playing a video in which D'Souza talked about selective prosecution - an effort at "spin," the judge said.

"I'm not sure, Mr. D'Souza, that you get it," Berman said before announcing the sentence. "And it is still hard for me to discern any personal acceptance of responsibility in this case."

The case has prompted criticism among some conservatives who accused the government of selectively prosecuting D'Souza because of his political views. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, whose office brought the case, is an Obama appointee.

Despite comments early in the hearing, [Judge] Berman ultimately decided against prison, instead ordering community confinement. Benjamin Brafman, D'Souza's lawyer, had argued no defendant in a case like D'Souza's had previously been sent to prison.

"I'm just relieved and want to thank the judge for imposing a fair sentence," D'Souza said after Tuesday's hearing.

The Indian-born D'Souza wrote the 2010 bestseller "The Roots of Obama's Rage" and co-directed a 2012 film, "2016: Obama's America," which painted a bleak picture of the nation's future if the Democratic president was reelected.

Prosecutors said D'Souza asked two friends and their spouses to contribute $10,000 each to Long's campaign and then reimbursed them.

Campaign finance regulations at the time limited individual donations to $5,000 maximum during an election cycle.

One friend was Denise Joseph, who was engaged to D'Souza while he was still married to another woman.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement that "like many others before him, of all political stripes, he has had to answer for this crime - here with a felony conviction."

The case is U.S. v. D'Souza, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 14-cr-00034.