DeLay Was Offered Lesser Charge for Plea, Lawyer Says (Update1)
Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay had been offered the chance to plead guilty to a misdemeanor in a campaign-finance case by a Texas prosecutor before being indicted on a felony charge, DeLay's lawyer said.
DeLay, a Texas Republican, rejected the offer to agree to the lesser charge, his lawyer said, forcing him to step down from his leadership post after the criminal indictment was handed up by a state grand jury.
DeLay ``turned you down flat so you had him indicted, in spite of advice from others in your office that Tom DeLay had not committed any crime,'' attorney Dick DeGuerin wrote in a letter to Travis County district attorney Ronnie Earle.
Earle, DeGuerin and another DeLay attorney, William White, didn't immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
DeGuerin today asked a Texas court to dismiss charges that DeLay engaged in money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering and that his case be severed from that of two co- defendants, to speed up his trial. DeGuerin said Earle, a Democrat, had charged DeLay using the wrong legal code and that the specific offenses he was charged with didn't exist in 2002, when the alleged crimes were committed.
DeLay, 58, was forced to relinquish his post under a rule adopted by House Republicans that calls for leaders to temporarily step aside after being indicted on any felony charge that carries a prison sentence of two years or more. DeLay wouldn't have been required to step down for a misdemeanor.
DeLay's lawyer also requested that his client get a speedy trial, the motions filed in Travis County District Court in Austin show.
Three grand juries have looked at evidence involving DeLay's possible involvement in alleged violations of campaign- finance laws in the past month. The first grand jury charged DeLay on Sept. 28 with conspiracy to violate the state election code. The second jury declined to indict the lawmaker and the third one charged him on Oct. 3 with money laundering and conspiracy.
DeLay, who faces his first appearance Friday, has already sought to have the Sept. 28 indictment dismissed.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Darrell Preston in Dallas at dpreston@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: October 17, 2005 18:28 EDT |
