Ex-Connecticut governor sentenced again for political crimes

Former Connecticut governor John Rowland was sentenced to another jail term — this time for campaign fraud.

Rowland was sentenced to 30 months in jail on Wednesday, according to the Hartford Courant. He was convicted of obstructing justice, conspiracy, falsifying government documents and other violations of campaign finance laws. The charges stem from his role as a paid consultant to a 2012 congressional campaign.

Rowland, Connecticut's governor from 1995 to 2004 and a former congressman, plans to appeal.

What's stunning about this case is that Rowland was sentenced exactly a decade after he was ordered to serve a year and a day for a different scandal that forced him from the governor's office.  He pleaded guilty in late 2004 to one count of conspiring to commit tax fraud and depriving the public of honest service in connection with accepting $107,000 in gifts from companies that did business with the state.

U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton is quoted by The New York Times as saying Rowland had not been rehabilitated by his first prison stint, and that it wasn't clear to her why he did what prosecutors outlined.

"Perhaps it's a lust for influence," Arterton said.

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