Updated: Kwame R. Brown was sentenced to one day in the custody of federal marshals and six months of home detention during a Tuesday-morning court hearing.
Earlier: In a hearing this morning, former Washington, D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown is scheduled to be sentenced on a federal bank-fraud charge that forced him to resign his office.
Brown, once considered a rising star in D.C. politics, faces up to six months in jail under the sentencing guidelines, the Washington Post reports. But his punishment won't likely be that harsh. Prosecutors have asked the judge to jail him for six days spread over three weekends, to be followed by three years of supervised release.
In June, the 42-year-old Democrat and Southeast Washington resident pleaded guilty to bank fraud and resigned as Council chairman, admitting he provided false information on applications to obtain two bank loans worth more than $200,000. Prosecutors noted that he faxed one of those applications — for a $166,000 home equity line of credit — from his Council office in 2005, when he was an at-large member.
Two years later, Brown admitted, he applied for a $55,335 loan to buy a boat by switching a "3" to an "8" on a document in order to inflate his salary as a consultant from $35,000 to $85,000. In both instances, Brown lied to boost his prospects of obtaining the loans.
In a letter to the judge, Brown wrote that he was "truly sorry" for violating the law.
"My public humiliation, the pain that I have caused to my family, friends and supporters, the embarrassment that I have caused to the city that I love are all the consequences of my actions," Brown wrote. "I did not intend those consequences, but they are the product of my actions nonetheless. It is difficult to find words to describe how badly I feel about bringing so much pain to so many people. I never imagined that I would be in such a situation."
Read more at the Washington Post.
Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.