Banker gets a year in prison for trying to bribe Paul Manafort to get him a Trump job
A Chicago banker who desperately tried to get a job with former President Donald Trump's administration through a bribery scheme was sentenced to a year in prison on Monday, Politico reported.
Stephen Calk was convicted of pushing for the approval of a $9.5 million real estate loan and a $6.5 million construction loan on a Paul Manafort condo project that faced foreclosure.
Fighting back tears, that Calk begged for his freedom, promising he was "deeply, deeply humbled" by the experience, writes Politico. His life has been left "in shambles," he told the judge.
His lawyer went so far as to call it an "aberration" that Calk was in the courtroom at all because he'd lived such a "law-abiding life," despite the conviction.
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"But prosecutors argued Calk deserved a term of up to five years," the report said. "They said he 'corruptly abused' his position as chairman and chief executive of The Federal Savings Bank to make $16 million in unsound loans to Manafort in exchange for Manafort’s help in securing political power."
“There’s nothing unique about the corrupting influence of power,” said prosecutor Paul Monteleoni.
The judge agreed that Calk deserves to be behind bars to send the message that “no one is above the law, regardless of their wealth and influence."
"You are extremely wealthy and you did not have to commit this crime," the judge explained.
That said, she only gave him a one-year sentence with a possibility of time off for good behavior.
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