HARRISBURG, Pa. _ Former Pennsylvania state Treasurer Rob McCord was sentenced to 2 { years in prison Tuesday for attempting to use his public office to strong-arm political contributors during his failed gubernatorial campaign in 2014.
McCord, 59, was tearful as he addressed U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones III in federal court here shortly before the sentence was announced after a two-hour hearing. The former treasurer also must pay a $5,200 fine.
"I want to apologize again. I want to apologize to the people of Pennsylvania," McCord said. "I broke the law." He said what he did "was not only illegal, it was wrong. I feel horrible."
Jones called McCord a "paradox," who has good qualities but also was avaricious and became so "obsessed" with being elected governor that he broke the law. He abused his position to threaten retaliation against people who would not donate to his campaign, Jones said.
McCord's 30-month sentence appeared to bring to an end what was once described as the most ambitious public corruption probe to come out of Harrisburg in years, one that also snared another former state treasurer, Barbara Hafer, as well as the onetime chief of staff to Gov. Ed Rendell, John Estey.
McCord will surrender to authorities Oct. 29.
Prosecutors had recommended McCord receive a sentence of 37 to 46 months in prison, a reduction from the federal guidelines, because of his cooperation in the prosecution of another corruption case.
Robert E. Welsh Jr., the former treasurer's lawyer, argued that McCord deserved more credit for his help. "He took responsibility right away ... when federal authorities confronted him with his actions," Welsh said.
In addition, Welsh said, it is important for authorities to provide incentives for future cooperating witnesses.
McCord, a Democrat from Montgomery County, abruptly resigned his position and pleaded guilty in 2015 to attempted extortion. A year earlier, federal authorities had secretly recorded him attempting to shake down campaign donors for contributions during the 2014 primary for governor. In one instance, he threatened the managing partner of a Philadelphia law firm if the firm did not make a sizable contribution to his campaign.
"At the very least, I'm still gonna be the freakin' treasurer," McCord told the partner in a conversation recorded by federal agents or cooperating witnesses, the court records show.
McCord agreed to cooperate after prosecutors confronted him with his own words as contained in 2,000 wiretapped conversations. For several weeks in late 2014, McCord wore a wire for the FBI and secretly recorded conversations with Richard Ireland, a wealthy Chester County businessman and Republican campaign donor. Federal prosecutors charged Ireland with attempted bribery.
But his erratic and unpredictable performance as the star government witness during Ireland's trial last year dealt the investigation its harshest blow and was cited by Jones in his unusual decision to throw out the case midtrial.
"I saw it with my own eyes and heard it with my ears," Jones, who presided over the Ireland trial, said Tuesday. "That wasn't my first rodeo either and what I saw clearly indicated to me that for whatever reasons ... he (McCord) was not entirely forthcoming in his testimony."
Prosecutors had accused Ireland of attempting to bribe McCord through campaign donations, as well as a job in the private sector, in exchange for the then-treasurer's help in landing multimillion dollar state contracts.
But McCord was reluctant to admit he had done anything wrong, insisting he never felt that his dealings with Ireland involved a "this for that" � or quid pro quo _ arrangement.
McCord had faced a range of 57 to 71 months in prison under federal guidelines, according to recent court filings. The question before Tuesday's sentencing was whether federal prosecutors would advocate for him to receive credit for his cooperation.
Five character witnesses testified on behalf of McCord, including his older brother Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, who teaches philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Professor Sayre-McCord said that even as his personal and professional lives crumbled, his brother accepted responsibility without excuse, though many public officials cover up their bad acts. What Rob McCord did took "bravery, integrity and honesty," his brother testified.
