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To: Scumbria who wrote (124497)	1/9/2001 4:25:52 PM
From: Paul Engel	Respond to of 186894

SCUMbria - Cisneros reaches plea agreement September 7, 1999 Web posted at: 2:03 p.m. EDT (1803 GMT) WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros pleaded guilty Tuesday to one misdemeanor count of lying to the FBI after reaching a plea bargain with federal prosecutors just as his trial on 18 counts of lying to federal investigators was scheduled to begin. Under the agreement, Cisneros will pay a $10,000 fine, but will not face prison, probation or any other penalty. Cisneros appeared before U.S. District Judge Stanley Sporkin and admitted that during his background checks for a post in the Clinton Administration, he falsely told FBI investigators that he had paid his former lover no more than $2,500 monthly. Henry Cisneros reached a plea bargain Tuesday with federal prosecutors "I accept responsibility for the conduct as outlined," Cisneros said in court, saying that future candidates for public office should learn that "truth and candor are important." Sporkin accepted the plea agreement but he initially said he thought was too lenient. "I know there will be some second-guessing about this plea," he said. "I don't think the office of independent counsel had much choice in this matter," Sporkin said, defending the work of prosecutor David Barrett. But, the judge added: "We cannot permit an individual to lie his way into public office." "We are just glad to have this over and done with," Barrett told reporters. The plea came just as jury selection was beginning in the high-profile case against Cisneros, a former San Antonio, Texas, mayor who was considered a rising star in the Democratic Party at one time. The indictment against Cisneros contended that while he was being considered for a Cabinet post in President Bill Clinton's first administration, he conspired with former mistress Linda Jones, to conceal from FBI agents the scope of his more than $250,000 in payments to her. Last June, Jones admitted that she lied repeatedly to investigators over the course of the investigation of Cisneros and was sentenced to a prison term. Jones would have been the government's star witness, but her credibility would have come under attack from Cisneros' high-dollar legal team. She agreed to testify against her ex-lover in a bid to gain a reduction in her 3 1/2-year prison sentence. Jones secretly made 88 tape recordings of her phone conversations with Cisneros as their relationship soured and those conversations would have been the heart of Barrett's case. Cisneros' lawyers attempted during a 13-day pretrial hearing in July to prohibit their use, saying many tapes bore signs of heavy editing. But Sporkin rejected the defense's argument and agreed to allow prosecutors to use all or parts of the 26 tapes they want to play for jurors. Jones' recordings, some of which the government acknowledges were edited, capture conversations in which she and Cisneros discussed their financial dealings. The tapes, most of which have yet to be heard publicly, also reflect Cisneros' characterizations of his discussions about the money with the Clinton transition team and the FBI agents conducting his Cabinet background check. During that background check, Cisneros admitted giving Jones financial support after their affair burst into public view in 1988 while he was mayor of San Antonio, costing her a marriage and a career as a political fund-raiser. But prosecutors contend he falsely told the FBI he never paid her more than $10,000 annually. The indictment alleged that Cisneros, who is now president of the Spanish-language television network Univision, paid her more than $264,000 between 1990 and 1993. Cisneros, who served as HUD secretary from 1993 through 1996, has said he offered financial support because he felt sorry for Jones after their affair became public. The affair moved into a legal arena after Jones filed a breach-of-contract suit against him in her hometown of Lubbock, Texas, in 1994, charging he had reneged on his promise to support her. A few months later, she appeared on the tabloid TV show "Inside Edition," and accused Cisneros of lying to the FBI. Based on that accusation, Attorney General Janet Reno initiated a Justice Department inquiry and in 1995 requested the appointment of an independent counsel. CNN's Charles Bierbauer and The Associated Press contributed to this report.