A former Republican member of the South Carolina legislature received a slap on the wrist Monday morning as a local judge suspended a one year sentence in jail for taking over $4 million in bribes from lobbyists and ordered the disgraced lawmaker to perform community service.
According to The State, Rep. Rick Quinn (R-Lexington), who resigned after 20 years in the legislature, was given 500 hours of community service to fulfill while being placed on probation for two years.
According to the original indictment, Quinn was accused of taking $4 million from lobbyists that was funneled to him through his father's consulting business.
Quinn, 52, pleaded guilty on Dec. 13 and had been awaiting sentencing.
According to special prosecutor David Pascoe, Quinn illegally took millions from business clients who dealt with his father to influence legislation benefiting them, stating back in December, "There has been no one more corrupt than Rick Quinn up there in Columbia."
Quinn only admitted to failing to report a one-time payment of roughly $28,000 by the University of South Carolina.
Prosecutor Pascoe criticized the light sentence after objecting to the judge, saying, ""As much as I disagree with the sentence, that is within the judge's discretion. The real problem with this plea is how it was conducted by the court and what the judge said she considered in passing sentence."
Quinn's father also got off lightly after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charge of failure to register as a lobbyist, punishable by a maximum $2,500 fine. 73-year-old Richard Quinn also agreed to pay an additional $3,000 in restitution.
