No jail time for Dinesh D’Souza
Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 8:09 pm
NEW YORK – Filmmaker and Obama critic Dinesh D’Souza was sentenced in Manhattan Tuesday morning in his campaign finance case to eight months in a work-release center during five years of probation, community service one day a week and a $30,000 fine.
He will be allowed to continue his writing and filmmaking but must set aside one day a week during his probation to teach English to non-English speakers.
D’Souza pleaded guilty in May to arranging “straw donors” to contribute $10,000 to the failed 2012 U.S. Senate campaign of Wendy Long, a college friend.
Dinesh D'Souza, left, and lawyer Benjamin Brafman after D'Souza's sentencing in Manhattan (WND photo)
Dinesh D’Souza, left, and lawyer Benjamin Brafman after D’Souza’s sentencing in Manhattan (WND photo)
D’Souza let out a big sigh of relief when U.S. District Judge Richard Berman began the sentencing hearing, which lasted more than two hours, by stating he didn’t believe prison was necessary.
“I want to thank the judge for imposing what I believe is a fair sentence,” D’Souza told reporters after the hearing.
D’Souza’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, issued a statement calling it an “enlightened sentence by a court who carefully and thoughtfully reviewed all of the facts and imposed an appropriately lenient sentence.”
D’Souza will spend the first eight months of his five-year probation in a community confinement center in San Diego, where he currently resides.
He will be allowed to continue his writing and filmmaking but must set aside one day a week during his probation to teach English to non-English speakers.
D’Souza pleaded guilty in May to arranging “straw donors” to contribute $10,000 to the failed 2012 U.S. Senate campaign of Wendy Long, a college friend.
Dinesh D'Souza, left, and lawyer Benjamin Brafman after D'Souza's sentencing in Manhattan (WND photo)
Dinesh D’Souza, left, and lawyer Benjamin Brafman after D’Souza’s sentencing in Manhattan (WND photo)
D’Souza let out a big sigh of relief when U.S. District Judge Richard Berman began the sentencing hearing, which lasted more than two hours, by stating he didn’t believe prison was necessary.
“I want to thank the judge for imposing what I believe is a fair sentence,” D’Souza told reporters after the hearing.
D’Souza’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, issued a statement calling it an “enlightened sentence by a court who carefully and thoughtfully reviewed all of the facts and imposed an appropriately lenient sentence.”
D’Souza will spend the first eight months of his five-year probation in a community confinement center in San Diego, where he currently resides.