Live updates: Sentencing of Robert McDonnell

This is the last post for the McDonnell liveblog, but this article (and The Post’s homepage) will continue to be updated throughout the evening, so check back often. Thanks for following along.

Former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, leave the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in January in Richmond. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Maureen McDonnell arrived in court about 20 minutes after her husband, with whom she has not lived since before their trial began. Her arrival appeared to be a surprise, even to some of those closest to the former governor.

After the judge’s ruling, Robert F. McDonnell gave his children long hugs and his wife a brief kiss on the cheek. She stayed in the courtroom, being comforted by family members as she sobbed. When the former governor went outside to speak to reporters with their daughters behind him, she ducked out and left separately, flanked by their two sons.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe speaks during a debate at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. (Steve Helber/AP)

Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s statement on the judge’s decision to imprison McDonnell: “Today’s sentencing brings an end to one of the most difficult periods in the history of Virginia state government. Like many Virginians, I am saddened by the effect this trial has had on our Commonwealth’s reputation for clean, effective government. As we put this period behind us, I look forward to working with Virginia leaders on both sides of the aisle to restore public trust in our government.”

Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell hold hands with his daughter, Cailin Young. (Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell has been sentenced to two years in prison. Here’s a look at the corruption case against him, by the numbers.

Defense attorneys credited former Virginia governor L. Douglas Wilder with providing key testimony at Robert   McDonnell’s sentencing.

“I thought Gov. Wilder was extraordinary,” attorney John Brownlee told reporters. “He came in today and he was literally brilliant. Probably one of the best defense witnesses I have ever seen in my 20-plus years in court.” He called it “important and special” that Wilder, a Democrat who served as governor from 1990 to 1994, testified on McDonnell’s behalf.

Fellow defense attorney Henry Asbill said that he was personally moved by all the letters written on McDonnell’s behalf. “I had a hard time not crying,” he said. But he added that he’s choked up in court before: “Weddings, funerals and sentencing, I cry.”

Defense attorneys Henry Asbill and John Brownlee told reporters outside court that Robert F. McDonnell’s legal team will continue to fight for the former governor.

“Sometimes in a case like this, justice is a marathon,” Asbill said. “We will never give up this case.”

Brownlee said he appreciated that Judge Spencer saw McDonnell as a “human being” in giving him a far lighter sentence than federal guidelines suggested. But, he said, “We will continue to fight for his innocence. … I believe Bob McDonnell is an innocent man.”

U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente and FBI Special Agent Adam Lee would not comment outside court on Judge Spencer’s sentence, which fell far below what prosecutors had requested.

Boente said that judges “sometimes see things differently,” but that Spencer “gave a good explanation” for his thinking.

“Any prison time for an elected official is punishment,” Lee said. Investigators and prosecutors did “an outstanding job administrating this incredibly complex case.”

There’s “no celebration,” he said, “just an abiding sense that we did the right thing.”

Standing outside the courthouse after his sentencing, former governor Robert F. McDonnell said that while he was “deeply, deeply sorry” for some of his actions, he has “never, ever betrayed my sacred oath of office.”

McDonnell walked out of the building clasping the hands of his daughters Cailin and Jeanine, both of whom cried after the two-year sentence was read. McDonnell, who did not cry, then hugged all of his children and kissed his wife on the cheek. Maureen McDonnell remained in the courtroom, sobbing, while her husband and his legal team left to fill out paperwork related to the judge’s decision.

While he thanked the judge “for the mercy he displayed to me today,” McDonnell told reporters that he “disagree[s] with the verdict and is filing an appeal today or tomorrow.

“I have immense faith in the justice system,” he said, but his “ultimate vindication” will come from Jesus Christ.

McDonnell thanked his children, his wife and other family members for being “unbelievably resolute,” and his friends for their “undying kindnesses” throughout his ordeal.

Read e-mails from the first lady, the wedding catering contract and details of a luncheon at the governor’s mansion that marked the launch of a new Star Scientific supplement.

From Rod Blagojevich to Ray Nagin to Phil Hamilton, corrupt politicians have a long history of getting caught and being sent to prison. Check out how McDonnell’s sentence compares to the others in this graphic.

During his lengthy remarks prior to sentencing, Judge James Spencer  noted that McDonnell had “never come onto my radar” until he ran for attorney general in 2005.

This appeared to be a pointed reference to a television report that had indicated that Spencer might hold a bias against McDonnell because he had once voted against appointing his wife, Margaret Spencer, to the Virginia Supreme Court. McDonnell’s vote had not been determinant — he was at the time in the minority of the House of Delegates, where Democrats nominated Spencer over his objection. She did not receive the appointment after the state Senate deadlocked 20-20 on the decision. Ultimately, she was appointed to the Circuit Court of Richmond.

The television report had prompted various blog items discussing Spencer’s possible bias and calculating the loss of pension income because his wife did not receive the Supreme Court appointment.

Spencer said he only truly became aware of McDonnell when he ran for governor in 2009, and then only from television ads. He bemoaned that among many moving letters he had received from McDonnell’s supporters, there were some that “continued to cast blame on others or to see conspirators behind every tree.”

“The bottom line is, I don’t know him and he doesn’t know me,” the judge said.

In a winding, roughly 15-minute speech before he imposed McDonnell’s two-year sentence, U.S. District Judge James Spencer mused on the fairness of the trial, the history of federal sentencing guidelines, the sadness of the case and even what personal knowledge he had of the former governor.

Spencer tipped that he would probably impose a lenient term when he talked of how the sentencing guidelines — once mandatory — would now allow him to show some discretion. Referring to a sentence of seven or eight years, he said: “That would be unfair, it would be ridiculous, under these facts.”

But Spencer was somewhat critical of McDonnell’s conduct and those of his supporters. He twice noted efforts to blame Maureen McDonnell, the former first lady of Virginia, who was also charged in the case. At one point, he called those who asserted that she had roped the governor into the case “dangerously delusional.” Later, he said: “While Mrs. McDonnell may have allowed the serpent into the mansion, the governor knowingly let him into his personal and business affairs.”

Spencer said he was saddened by the entire affair. ​

“No one wants to see a former governor of this great commonwealth in this kind of trouble,” he said, but added: “The jury by its verdict found an intent to defraud. That is a serious offense that all the grace and mercy that I can muster, it can’t cover it all.”

Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell leaves court with daughter Cailin Young  during his corruption trial at U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Below is an excerpt from The Post’s story on today’s decision. From Matt Zapotosky and Rosalind S. Helderman:

A federal judge sentenced former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell to two years in prison Tuesday — a term far lower than what prosecutors had sought and one that means the popular politician will be free before his 63rd birthday.

U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer said he was moved by the outpouring of support for McDonnell, though he could not ignore the jury’s verdict.

“A price must be paid,” Spencer said. “Unlike Pontius Pilate, I can’t wash my hands of it all. A meaningful sentence must be imposed.”

The penalty is a win for defense attorneys, who had asked that the former governor be sentenced to mere community service even as prosecutors advocated for a prison term stretching longer than a decade. McDonnell will likely spend less time behind bars than he spent holding the state’s highest office; he can reduce his sentence by about 15 percent with good behavior.

The U.S. probation office had determined that federal sentencing guidelines called for a term of incarceration between 10 years and a month and 12 years and seven months.

Keep reading.

U.S. District Judge James Spencer said he was moved by the outpouring of letters for McDonnell, though he could not ignore the jury’s verdict.

“A price must be paid,” Spencer said. “Unlike Pontius Pilate, I can’t wash my hands of it all. A meaningful sentence must be imposed.”

(Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell has been sentenced to two years in prison by U.S. District Judge James Spencer. He must report to prison by Feb. 9.

Bob McDonnell has addressed the court, asking that Judge James Spencer show him mercy — but that he show it first to his wife, Maureen.

“I stand before you a heartbroken and humbled man,” McDonnell told Spencer.

He noted that he had repeatedly apologized for his interactions with Jonnie Williams.

“I renew that deep expression of sorrow to the people of Virginia today,” he said.

He said the events of the case had caused him to scrutinize every area of his life and to conclude that he had allowed his life as governor to become “out of balance,” with too much focus on politics and governing and not enough on his family.

He said he held himself “accountable for all the words, all the actions I took as governor of Virginia.”

“I’m now 60 years old. All of the additional days that the Lord allows me … I dedicate them to the service of others,” he said.

“I ask that whatever mercy you might have, you grant it first to my wife Maureen,” he said. Her sentencing will come  Feb. 20.

He concluded by asking that he be allowed to perform community service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Dry conceded in court that he was moved by the former governor’s massive amount of support — both in letters and in court testimony. But, he said, in some ways that made McDonnell’s crimes even more unusual.

Dry insisted that McDonnell had the education and the means to do better.

“His crimes were crimes of choice, not necessity,” Dry said. “There’s no denying that he has accomplished many good things in his life, but we expect that from our elected officials, or we should.”

Dry said McDonnell was still blaming others, including his own wife, and despite his public apology, he had not shown any remorse for the actual allegations of which he was convicted. He noted that even the public apology came after McDonnell was under federal investigation and his misdeeds were reported in the press.

“This is a hard thing to say,” Dry said, “but the defendant has shown no true remorse in this case for these crimes.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Dry began his final pitch to the judge by summarizing McDonnell’s arguments: He claims he did nothing in exchange for the gifts; he claims to be an exceptional man who enjoys broad support and, before his public corruption conviction, had not  received even a single parking ticket.

Then Dry delivered the kicker: “Each and every one of these arguments was made on August 12, 2011, at the sentencing of Phil Hamilton.”

Hamilton, a former state legislator, was sentenced to 9 1/2 years in prison in a similar federal corruption case.

Dry asserted that McDonnell’s case might warrant a more severe penalty than Hamilton received. He noted McDonnell’s misdeeds ran for about two years, and Hamilton’s for less than one. He said Hamilton was one of many state legislators; McDonnell, of course, was the only governor. And he said Hamilton was not a lawyer. McDonnell, by comparison, was once the top attorney in Virginia.

Finally, Dry said, what Hamilton received was a $40,000 a year job, at which he was actually required to work. McDonnell, he said, received vacations, golf outings, a Ferrari ride, a Rolex watch and $120,000 in secret loans.

“These crimes,” Dry said, “are unprecedented in Virginia’s 226-year history.”

Asbill has concluded his argument, which consisted almost entirely of excerpts from letters of the more than 440 McDonnell supporters who wrote to Spencer on the former governor’s behalf.

He quoted from the Rev. Wayne Ball, who McDonnell has been living with since shortly before his trial began.  The priest had asked that McDonnell remain free so he can continue his personal improvement.

Asbill  quoted, finally, from U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, who noted that when deciding whether to grant others mercy, he looks to whether those people have been merciful. Kaine said that McDonnell, indeed, has shown mercy to others, particularly through his work to restore voting rights to convicted felons.

Finally, Asbill concluded: “On my client’s behalf, and on behalf of the hundreds of people who have stood beside him, I ask you to temper justice with mercy in this case.”

Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell wades through several members of the media after being found guilty of corruption at the federal courthouse in Richmond. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

With McDonnell’s sentencing fast approaching, check out Matt Zapotosky‘s explanation of what will happen immediately after the decision is announced.

After saying he would not go over letters he was sure the court had read, defense attorney Henry Asbill went on to do exactly that, reading for more than  30 minutes from notes written by more than 600 individuals in support of Robert F. McDonnell.

Everything Asbill read had a common theme: That McDonnell was a man universally respected, admired and beloved by the people he encountered.

That esteem, Asbill said, extended to everyone involved in the trial.

“Other than arguments from my opposing counsel, I have never heard anyone say any bad word about Bob McDonnell in this,” he said. And he suggested that the prosecution’s star witness, former Anatabloc executive Jonnie Williams, was bending over backwards to cast a negative light on the ex-governor: “Even Jonnie Williams had to struggle to say something negative.”

Robert McDonnell’s defense attorney has begun making what sounds like his final pitch to the judge — an indication the hearing is entering the home stretch.

Prosecutors, who called no witnesses, still have to make their final argument, and McDonnell is also expected to speak. But the sentencing’s close seems to be rapidly approaching.

Defense attorney Henry Asbill began his presentation by noting the sheer volume of McDonnell supporters who wrote to U.S. District Judge James Spencer. He said between 600 and 650 people had offered support: some with letters to Spencer, some with notes of encouragement to McDonnell that the defense included in a packet to the judge.

Asbill said the letters highlighted his client’s character, which he said was responsible for McDonnell’s rise from a law partner  to a state delegate  to attorney general, to governor. Asbill said  that his exemplary character had “humbled” him — even “astonished, frankly” — pointing to McDonnell’s ability to console those in need.

“He is a grief counselor,” Asbill said. “He mends. He loves in ways I find truly remarkable.”

Asbill then began referencing individual letters — sometimes quoting a sentence or two, other times relaying an anecdote — that he said demonstrate who McDonnell is.

Drawing from the letters, Asbill talked of McDonnell calling one of his daughter’s friends after a relative passed away and another time consoling a stranger in the hallway of a state office building. He passed on one former staffer’s assertion that if prosecutors had worked for the former governor, they would understand that  his intentions were always pure. He mentioned a time when the governor gave money to a homeless person and included with it a business card and an offer: “Let me help you find a job.”

“This is the kindness, the compassion, the humble nature of this man toward others,” Asbill said.

After letting witness after witness go without challenge, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Dry stood to cross-examine former Virginia governor Doug Wilder.

Isn’t it true that all public officials who accept bribes are stigmatized, as Wilder had said McDonnell has been, Dry asked.

“Yes, sir,” Wilder said.

Isn’t it true that there’s a problem in America with cynicism toward the political process?

Wilder agreed.

And that when elected officials accept bribes, they deepen that cynicism?

“Yes, sir,” he said. “I would agree with you, so much so that it’s dangerous.”

Wilder plowed on: In this case, the public also sees something else. He said they see that the “progenitor of the bribe” — that is, businessman Jonnie Williams — “walks away clear.”

Williams was given immunity from all prosecution in exchange for testimony against McDonnell.

The courtroom, packed with McDonnell’s supporters, erupted in applause.

Dry calmly continued: In the case of former Virginia delegate Phil Hamilton, was anyone else sent to jail?

Wilder said he wasn’t sure. (No one was.) Dry noted that Hamilton was sentenced to 9 1/2 years in prison.

L. Douglas Wilder, a fraternity brother of the former  governor and a former Virginia governor himself, told the judge that if not for this case, McDonnell would be on the shortlist for the presidential nomination.

“Without question,” Wilder said.

“He’s been punished. He’s been punished indelibly,” Wilder said, noting that those lofty aspirations have been dashed. “There is no magic wand that can take away the taint from what his reputation was.”

The  Democratic former governor said McDonnell would have been known as one of Virginia’s best governors.

“I found him to be of his word,” Wilder said. “If he told you something, you could go to sleep on it.”

Janet Kelly, former secretary of the commonwealth and McDonnell’s close friend, emphasized his work in the final year of his governorship to find homes for more than 1,000 children in foster care.

After learning about the backlog, “it took him 15 seconds to say, ‘Fix it,’ ” she recalled.

“He cares about powerful people, of course,”  Kelly said. But, she said, he cared just as much about average people — waitresses and truck drivers. She recalled an annual event McDonnell created in 2007 at which lawyers compete to collect food for the hungry.

Kelly also spoke of a trip to help rebuild homes in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The governor, she said, “wanted to make sure his children … knew what it was like to suffer” and develop empathy for those who had.

The ninth witness was Albert Poole, one of McDonnell’s former law partners. Poole talked of how McDonnell came to his firm after he was elected to the House of Delegates and could no longer serve as a prosecutor. He said McDonnell worked his way up, eventually becoming a partner.

“Bob McDonnell was a good lawyer,” Poole said. “He was always operating at what you might call ‘warp speed.’ ”

Defense attorneys next called Janet Kelly, who served as secretary of the commonwealth when McDonnell was governor.

Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell, left, arrives at federal court with his attorney, Henry Asbill, in Richmond on Aug. 28. (Steve Helber/AP)

Whether you’re confused or just forgot about what happened when in McDonnell’s trial, check out this handy timeline of events to better understand.

Terrie Suit, who served as a state delegate and then secretary of veterans affairs under McDonnell, told the judge he had one flaw: gullibility.

Suit (who testified before the break) said that in the 20 years she has known him, he never uttered a mean word about anyone and held no grudges. But Suit, who described McDonnell as a political and personal mentor, said she would at times tell McDonnell that others didn’t have his best interests at heart.

“You have to be a better person than that,” she recalled him saying.

Suit told a series of moving stories about McDonnell’s integrity and compassion. She recalled, for instance, that it was McDonnell who first urged her to run for the House of Delegates. She was reluctant, telling him she was the wife of an enlisted service person who had no college degree and no money. She said he told her, “Terrie, everybody has the right to participate.”

Later, a man she described as an “influential person” in Virginia Beach called her and told her that if she did not bow out of the race, the city’s sheriff would run against McDonnell for his delegate’s seat. “I was shocked,” she said. “I thought: ‘This is America. This is a place where people should be able to run and not be intimidated.’ ”

When Suit told McDonnell, she said he told her: “I want you to win your race, so we can serve together in Richmond.”

After McDonnell appointed her to his cabinet, she recalled how he tried — without success — to get a reservist who had died of brain cancer a spot at Arlington National Cemetery. At McDonnell’s urging, however, she was able to get a Virginia veterans cemetery to break policy and allow two brothers who had died in Iraq and Afghanistan to be buried together.

McDonnell’s sister, Nancy McDonnell Naisawald, seemed to take a shot at the oft-vilified former first lady, Maureen McDonnell.

Describing what her brother meant to the family, Naisawald called him the “glue” among his siblings, and the “heart and soul of his family.” She then talked specifically of his kids, without mentioning Maureen.

“His children adore him,” she said. “They need him. He’s their go-to parent.”

It’s not the first time Maureen McDonnell has been criticized by close family members. Her own daughter, for example, spoke ill of her in a letter urging U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer to show leniency to her father.

Defense attorneys shifted gears with their seventh witness, calling McDonnell’s younger sister, Nancy McDonnell Naisawald, to speak about the role McDonnell played in their family and the devastating impact of his conviction.

Naisawald testified that her brother struggled to process the guilty verdict, losing weight after he stopped eating.

“My family is heartbroken, devastated,” she said. “It’s been an absolutely devastating experience for our family.”

Naisawald ​said her brother was raised in a religious family, and he had leaned on his faith to cope. She said he reads the Bible when he wakes up each morning and before he goes to bed each night. He also meets weekly with a Bible study group.

At some point after his conviction, Naisawald said, McDonnell began to exercise and eat healthier.

“He’s a fighter,” she said. “He hasn’t given up hope.”

Naisawald said family members believe the case to be a “bump in the road” and they “have faith in the appeals process.”

Between witnesses, check out these 45 images from August’s gripping spectacle.

Robert F. McDonnell cared deeply about restoring voting rights to felons, Richmond radio personality Clovia Lawrence recalled in her testimony.

“I am praying for leniency,” she told Judge James R. Spencer. “He’s worked so hard and so diligently with folks who are returning to society to have a second chance.”

She is one of many who wrote letters to the judge invoking McDonnell’s restoration of felons’ rights as cause to show leniency in the former governor’s own sentencing.

Lawrence said she met McDonnell about seven years ago. “He was kind,” she said of the then-attorney general.

After a gubernatorial forum in 2009, she said he asked her what she wanted him to do as governor. “Automatic rights restoration for felons,” she replied. He said he would work on it, and by the end of his term, McDonnell restored voting rights to more than 8,000 Virginians.

“I don’t think he was doing it as a politician,” she said. “He believed in second chances.”

The next character witness testifying on McDonnell’s behalf is Michel Zajur, former owner of a Richmond Mexican restaurant and current head of the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. McDonnell appointed him in 2012 to a  four-year term on the State Board for Community Colleges.

The current witness is Clovia Lawrence, an announcer for Radio One in Richmond. Lawrence had written a letter to Spencer asking for mercy for McDonnell, citing his work as governor in restoring voting rights for felons.

Speaker of the Virginia House William J. Howell (R-Stafford) has told Judge James Spencer that the trial and conviction of former governor Bob McDonnell has already served as a significant deterrent to other state lawmakers who might be tempted to break the law.

He said both caucuses of both chambers of the legislature have had “people” (FBI agents, presumably) brief them on the trial’s lessons. As a result, he said, legislators were especially concerned to “dot all their i’s and cross all their t’s.”

He noted that the legislature has already enhanced state ethics laws as a result of McDonnell’s actions and is likely to  stiffen those laws when the annual legislative session opens next week.

What’s more, Howell, McDonnell’s friend of  20 years, said the former governor’s life has already been “devastated” by his conviction. He recalled the Bible study he and McDonnell held with other lawmakers every Wednesday and said that as a lawmaker and state office holder, McDonnell respected those with other points of view and tried to do the right thing.

“The damage to his dreams and his aspirations has been done,” Howell said. “I believe he’s been punished enough.”

McDonnell’s team is making a clear pitch to the judge: Given the charitable organizations that  could use his skills, sending the former governor to prison would be a waste.

Monsignor Timothy Keeney​ of St.  Bede Catholic Church, McDonnell’s third character witness, described how McDonnell might work for the Catholic diocese in Southwest Virginia, coordinating ministries and working with various local officials.

Given McDonnell’s 11 convictions, defense attorney Henry Asbill asked Keeney: “Does the diocese or the bishop have any hesitation at all” in giving him work?

“We’re in the job of redemption,” Keeney responded.

Keeney said McDonnell’s position would normally pay $35,000 a year (though McDonnell would do it for free), and he said the diocese could never have filled it with a person of McDonnell’s stature. But he said the work would benefit the former governor, too.

Testifying next is William J. Howell,  speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. The Republican is a friend of McDonnell and his family.

The executive director of Operation Blessing International said Robert F. McDonnell would be a huge asset to the faith-based humanitarian organization — should the court allow him to serve a sentence of community service rather than prison time.

“If Bob McDonnell were buried in jail … it would be like burying something of enormous value,” William F. Horan testified. Instead, he proposed that McDonnell do rebuilding work for the organization either in Haiti or food distribution in America.

While he had only met the former governor once before his conviction, Horan said McDonnell and his family had worked with Operation Blessing in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, where the then-Virginia attorney general showed “he had a real heart to serve.”

The proposal is a long shot, but Horan gave a detailed explanation of the work McDonnell would do for the nonprofit.

After his conviction, Horan said, McDonnell asked the group whether there was “a country where you are working where living would be an extreme hardship for me.” Horan suggested Haiti, where the organization operates out of a house that is “very hot and uncomfortable … there’s lots of mosquitoes, it never cools off.” But, Horan said, McDonnell could also oversee distribution of food to the poor out of a base in Bristow, Va. For that job, he would need to be certified to operate a forklift,  Horan said. But he also expressed hope that the former governor would use his connections to bring in new food and financial donations.

“We could never hire someone like Bob McDonnell” on the group’s budget, Horan said. “[He] could be a force multiplier in the world of human charity.” 

The next witness is Monsignor Timothy Keeney of St. Bede Catholic Church in Williamsburg, Va.

So, who got the engraved Rolex? The flight to the Final Four? The $15,000 in wedding catering?

Check out The Post’s interactive graphic.

Defense attorneys have now called to the stand Bill Horan,  president of Operation Blessing International. The Virginia Beach organization has offered to give McDonnell an unpaid position doing charitable work should the judge accept defense attorneys’ recommendations that the former Virginia governor be sentenced to 6,000 hours of community service.

Retired Col. Gary Nelson testified that as a young officer under his command, former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell had “perfect military bearing” and an “exemplary” service record. He said McDonnell was trusted with responsibility for millions of dollars of medical supplies and commanded other troops with compassion and empathy.

Nelson recalled the day in the early 1990s when McDonnell asked him to breakfast to tell him he was contemplating running for public office as a state delegate. Nelson said he told McDonnell that he thought he had the honesty and integrity to be a good public official but asked him why he would want that life, with all of its scrutiny? “All I really want to do is help people,” he recalled  McDonnell replying.

Later, he said that when McDonnell was governor, the colonel asked him to restore voting rights for a friend who had been convicted of a felony. He said he figured that McDonnell could just make it happen as a favor. “He looked me right in the eye and said, ‘You have to go through the system,’ ” Nelson said.

In conclusion, Nelson said he has spoken to local prosecutors who worked with the former governor in the Virginia Beach area and recalled the second chances McDonnell had provided to people he prosecuted.

“My plea to you is that you find it in your heart to show mercy, as he’s given it to others,” Nelson said to Judge James Spencer.

Read through the 440 letters that McDonnell submitted to the court and you’ll find no shortage of emotion and support. But for readers in Alexandria, one note in particular probably stands out.

It’s a one-page, typed letter from Norman J. Lodato Jr., a high school classmate of McDonnell’s at Bishop Ireton. Lodato is the husband of Alexandria music teacher Ruthanne Lodato, who was shot and killed in February last year in a case that police have attributed to alleged serial killer Charles Severance.

Ruthanne Lodato attended the sister high school of Bishop Ireton and played the organ at McDonnell’s wedding.

Norman Lodato wrote in his letter that McDonnell was “one of the first people to reach out and share his condolences, as well as his fond memories of Ruthanne” after the killing. He wrote that McDonnell actually paid an in-person visit about a month after the incident, and his daughter confirmed that her father and the former governor met for lunch after McDonnell’s trial.

“Given everything that was going on in his own life, I think it speaks volumes to Bob’s character that he remained in touch and concerned about my own family,” Norman Lodato wrote. “All of his actions were out of the public eye and only reinforced my opinion that he is a great friend of strong integrity.”

Lodato asked the judge to consider a lenient sentence.

The letter is particularly notable because Norman Lodato has not spoken publicly about his wife’s death. He declined to be interviewed about the letter and his relationship with the former governor, though his daughter confirmed that her father had written it and met with McDonnell.

Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell, center, answers reporters’ questions Aug. 27 as he leaves the federal courthouse  in Richmond with his daughter, Rachel McDonnell, left. On the right is one of McDonnell’s lawyers, Daniel Small. (P. Kevin Morley/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer has ruled that federal sentencing guidelines call for McDonnell to face a prison sentence between 78 and 97 months, or roughly 6 1/2 to 8 years.

The ruling is a win for defense attorneys, though it does not guarantee a sentence within that range, and McDonnell is still hoping that the judge will impose a penalty far less severe than  that. In the federal system, the sentencing guidelines are advisory, though judges in the Eastern District of Virginia have followed them more than 70 percent of the time in recent years.

Spencer sided with defense attorneys on two technical disputes. He determined that McDonnell did not obstruct justice during his testimony at trial, saying that much of what he talked about was his “subjective view.”

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to punish him for putting on his case,” the judge said.

Spencer also said the value of the things McDonnell received from Jonnie R. Williams Sr. very likely fell between $97,000 and $121,000, but it was not more than $121,000, as the probation officers and prosecutors had asserted.

With argument over the technical value of loans completed, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Dry is arguing that McDonnell deserves to have his sentence enhanced for lying on the witness stand during his August trial.

His voice filling with indignation as he read from the trial transcript, Dry reviewed instance after instance in which McDonnell denied that he had taken gifts and loans from Jonnie Williams in exchange for state help — the essential question that had been put to the jury.

Then, he read aloud from a different trial transcript. This was the trial of former Virginia delegate Phil Hamilton, who in almost identical language insisted that he had “absolutely not” inserted a budget amendment to assist Old Dominion University in exchange for a job at the school. Hamilton was convicted in 2011 and Judge Henry Hudson gave Hamilton a sentence enhancement for denying the central element of his conviction.

“In this case, the falsity of the defendant’s testimony is shown by the jury’s verdict,” Dry said.

Defense attorney John Brownlee countered that in the Hamilton case, there were e-mails making it clear that the defendant believed an agreement existed. In McDonnell’s case, he insisted, there was no such evidence.

Judge James Spencer is not yet asking many questions of prosecutors and defense attorneys — even when they ask for his input.

As defense attorney John Brownlee wrapped up his presentation about the federal sentencing guidelines, he asked the judge whether he wanted to make any inquiries.

“I don’t have any questions. Thank you very much,” Spencer responded.

As prosecutor Ryan Faulconer began his own presentation, he asked the judge whether he should highlight any areas in particular.

Spencer told him no.

That is a sign, perhaps, that Spencer has already formed opinions about some of the technical disputes — which the parties have argued about at length in written filings. It could also mean that he just wants the sentencing to move quickly.

Giving no specific direction on what to talk about, Faulconer soon began describing why he believed the probation office appropriately tabulated the amount McDonnell had received from Jonnie R. Williams Sr. as being more than $120,000. He noted that some of the items defense attorneys did not want to count as bribes — the Rolex watch and high-end clothing, in particular — were clearly part of the corruption conspiracy, and they were payments that were clearly intended to influence.

McDonnell and Williams, he argued, were not friends.

Faulconer also argued that McDonnell should be assessed the full face value of the loans because of their extremely favorable terms, and even if not, he should be assessed a value much higher than what defense attorneys were asking for.

Robert F. McDonnell was “trying to be truthful” in his testimony at trial, defense attorney John L. Brownlee told the court Monday morning.

“Trying to get it right,” he said.

At issue is whether McDonnell obstructed justice by testifying in his own defense. A probation officer found that he did and recommended a longer prison sentence as a result.

McDonnell’s attorneys countered that the former governor was honest about the facts of the case. Brownlee said testimony about McDonnell’s “mental state” — whether or not he saw his actions as part of a conspiracy — “is typically not the basis of obstruction.”

While McDonnell disputed the prosecution’s characterization of his relationship with Williams and the state of his own finances, Brownlee said, that is a difference of opinion.

“Was it a lie?  Was it perjury?”  Brownlee said. “No.”

Judge James Spencer has asked Robert F. McDonnell’s attorney John Brownlee to outline his objections to the 10-to-12-year sentence proposed by the U.S. Probation Office.

Brace for a dense, highly technical debate.

Part of the probation office’s analysis involved totaling the value of items accepted by McDonnell as bribes from businessman Jonnie Williams. They had concluded those items totaled more than $177,000.

First, Brownlee said he objected to the inclusion of a number of items that did not form specific felony counts of which McDonnell was convicted. (They were included by prosecutors as part of the total conspiracy they alleged the governor engaged in with his wife.) Brownlee said McDonnell did not know about some of those gifts, which were accepted by his wife Maureen — notably a more than $20,000 New York City shopping trip.

“We believe the evidence is that these thing were kept from him,” Brownlee said.

Then he turned to the question of how to value the $120,000 in loans Williams gave the McDonnells. In court papers, defense lawyers argued that those loans had nearly negligible value, as compared to possible loans McDonnell could have obtained. In court, Brownlee said if the judge didn’t like that calculation, he could use another one to compare it to another loan McDonnell received in 2010 from a Virginia Beach doctor. The explanation involved T-bill rates.

Ultimately, Brownlee said this calculation would result in a value of the loan of $69,640 instead of $120,000. He said that new calculation would result in an offense level of 10 rather than 6 — a calculation that would lower the guideline sentence significantly.

Watch the former governor arrive for his sentencing hearing.

PostTV’s Julie Percha broke down the revelations from the five-week corruption trial against Bob and Maureen McDonnnell.

McDonnell’s sentencing officially started at 10:01 a.m. with prosecutor Michael Dry reading the technical charges against the former governor and asking the judge how the parties were to proceed.

First, it seems, they will debate the probation office’s calculation of the federal sentencing guidelines, which call for McDonnell to receive a sentence between 10 years and a month and 12 years and seven months.

McDonnell lawyer John Brownlee said the former governor’s side disagreed, in particular, with the probation office’s assessment that McDonnell received more than $120,000 in bribes from Jonnie R. Williams Sr., and the office’s judgment that McDonnell lied on the witness stand.

Those issues are important because both enhance the severity of the office’s recommended range. They are addressed in more detail here.

In this Oct. 31, 2009 file photo, then-Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell hugs his wife, Maureen, during a rally in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Find all of them (and a list of the authors) here.

In this courtroom sketch at the federal corruption trial of former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell, center, and his wife, former first lady Maureen McDonnell, second from right, Judge James R. Spencer, left, presides. (AP Photo/Dana Verkouteren)

McDonnell was dealt a serious blow last month when the U.S. probation office determined that federal sentencing guidelines called for him to spend between 10 years and a month and 12 years and seven months in prison. Federal judges in the Eastern District of Virginia have handed down sentences within the so-called guideline range more than 70 percent of the time in recent years, and U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer is known particularly to heed the probation office’s advice.

But the guidelines are not set in stone.

Defense attorneys say the probation office misstated some facts of the case and miscalculated what the penalty should be; a more appropriate range, they say, would be two years and nine months to three years and five months in prison.

Their arguments are very technical ones. These are the major areas of debate that will likely be discussed at the sentencing today.

1) How much was everything worth that McDonnell received from Jonnie R. Williams Sr.?

In the estimation of the probation office, the former governor received more than $120,000 in bribes — a figure that triggers a sentencing enhancement under the federal guidelines. Prosecutors agree with that assessment. Defense attorneys, though, believe that even giving credit to the jury’s verdict, McDonnell received only between $10,000 and $30,000 from Williams, figures that would lower the recommended range of sentences.

There are a few gifts in dispute, but the disparity largely lies in the fact that the probation office is faulting McDonnell for the full face value of $120,000 in loans his wife and real estate company received from Williams — and ultimately paid back.

2) Did McDonnell take more than one bribe?

In the estimation of the probation office, McDonnell got more than one bribe from Williams, a fact that increases his sentencing range. Prosecutors say the jury actually convicted him “of six separate counts of extorting six different things of value,” and that did not include things that were not explicitly charged.

But by the defense’s account, all the gifts and payments were part of a series, stemming from a “single incident of bribery.”

3) Did McDonnell obstruct justice when he testified at trial?

The probation office determined that when McDonnell took the stand at his trial, he essentially lied, and that is reason to enhance his sentence under federal guidelines. Prosecutors claim there were at least eight separate ways that McDonnell “committed perjury,” including denying that he did anything for items of value and claiming that a $15,000 check from Williams was meant for his daughter, not him.

They argue, essentially, that the jury decided the facts of the case, and those facts stand counter to McDonnell’s testimony in a number of specific ways.

Defense attorneys, though, argue that McDonnell should not be faulted for obstructing justice simply because he testified in his own defense and was later found guilty. They argue that McDonnell acknowledged almost all of the facts or actions that formed the basis of his conviction; he simply disputes that what he did was illegal.

4) Should McDonnell be credited for accepting responsibility?

The probation office did not credit McDonnell for having accepted responsibility in the case, something that could have pushed his sentencing range downward. Defense attorneys say they should have.

Their argument here is a little murky because McDonnell and his defense team continue to assert that his corruption case was one-of-a-kind, and he still believes he did not commit a crime. But they argue that McDonnell nonetheless had “consistently and emphatically accepted responsibility for his actions and poor judgment that led to this situation,” and should be credited for doing so.

Prosecutors, obviously, disagree, and say McDonnell’s request to be credited for accepting responsibility is “another reminder of the defendant’s hubris and sense of entitlement.”

So what should former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell do today, when he gets his time to address Judge James Spencer and a packed courtroom of friends and supporters?

“Don’t make a show of it,” advised Jeff Smith, who understands what this moment is like far better than most people.

A former Democratic state lawmaker in Missouri, Smith pleaded guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice related to campaign law violations in a federal courtroom in 2009.

Smith said he spent a great deal of time thinking about what to say to the judge when offered a chance to speak at his own sentencing. Afterwards, he realized that the judge had likely selected his sentence — one a year and a day in a federal prison camp — before the hearing had even begun. Still, the session offered him a chance to publicly address his former constituents as well.

“He definitely shouldn’t talk for more than a few minutes,” Smith advised. “And the two words that should characterize his remarks are humility and contrition.”

If sentenced to prison time, Smith advised McDonnell to use the time between now and the day he must report to spend as much time as possible with his children and with the many friends who wrote 440 letters to Spencer urging leniency.

The U.S. Probation Office recommended that McDonnell serve between 10 and 12 years in prison.

“He has to hope that if he does get a sentence anywhere near the guidelines, that he can have the deep enough foundation with these people that it will last a decade,” Smith said.

As for prison itself, should McDonnell be sentenced to serve, Smith said the former Virginia governor should be cordial to all, answering questions from those who ask. But he advised against the politician’s natural tendency to try to befriend everyone. “Don’t try to politic,” he said. “Be perfectly nice, but don’t suggest that you’re trying to curry people’s favor. Quietly respond to people’s curiosity, so they see you’re a nice person. But mostly keep to yourself.”

Get in shape, he advised. Accept that you will likely be given a prison nickname, and it will almost certainly be “governor.” Don’t complain of having being unfairly convicted.

“Nobody wants to hear that,” Smith explained. “Everybody got ratted out by somebody. Somebody’s brother-in-law wore a wire. You’ve got people whose wives ratted them out. That’s worse than what happened to you.”

Most of all, he said, keep quiet and try to get up to speed quickly on the unwritten rules that all prisons run by. “Like your grandma said, you have two ears and one mouth. Use them in proportion to one another,” he said. “And don’t make waves.”

Former Gov. Robert F. McDonnell will be sentenced in a few short hours. So what happens next?

If the former governor gets a sentence that includes incarceration, U.S. District Judge James Spencer will have to answer a question right away: When should McDonnell go to prison? Spencer could send him away immediately, and McDonnell would be forced to hand off personal effects to family members in the courtroom. He would then be turned over to the U.S. Marshals while federal prison officials decide where he should go from there.

But that is highly unusual in white-collar cases, and prosecutors are not expected to request it here. Most experts expect Spencer to give the former governor a date by which he should report to prison.

Defense attorneys also asked Spencer to let McDonnell remain out on bond while his appeal is adjudicated, but that might be an uphill battle. The attorneys would have to convince Spencer that McDonnell isn’t likely to flee and that his appeal raises a substantial legal or factual question that would likely result in a new trial, a reversal of his conviction or a sentence without prison.

If McDonnell were ultimately forced to go to prison, he probably would not end up far from home. Federal prison officials typically place inmates near the area where they will be released, and McDonnell might request that Spencer recommend a particular geographic placement. Prison officials will consider that recommendation, McDonnell’s particular security concerns and the beds available at various institutions in selecting a spot for the former governor.

Because of his age and clean record, McDonnell is likely destined for a minimum security camp. But that isn’t guaranteed. Federal prison regulations call for inmates with more than 10 years remaining on their sentences to serve time in at least a low-security facility, which has more guards and double fenced perimeters.

The former governor can take with him little more than a wedding band and his prescription glasses. His lawyers or family will have to get a prison commissary account set up, though an expert said that could take some time. The clothes he reports in will be mailed back to his family after he trades them for prison garb.

In this Jan. 21 file photo, former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell speaks during a news conference in Richmond, accompanied by his wife, Maureen. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

After several long lingering hugs with supporters in the hallway, former governor Robert F. McDonnell has entered the courtroom for his sentencing.

Maureen McDonnell, who arrived about 20 minutes after her husband, entered the courthouse along with Virginia House Speaker William J. Howell (R). Neither spoke to the press. After conferring for several minutes with her children and her attorney, she joined the rest of her family in the courtroom.

Earlier, her lawyer had been sitting alone in the overflow courtroom when she arrived. Her appearance seemed to be a surprise.

The courtroom is packed with friends and supporters. We were told Ben Jealous, former president of the NAACP, is in attendance, as is former Virginia governor L. Douglas Wilder, a Democrat. Others also gathered for the hearing include former McDonnell staffers, State Sens. Jeff McWaters and Frank Ruff, and former Buffalo Bills and Redskins great Bruce Smith.

Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell will be sentenced today, bringing to an end a narrative of greed, corruption and family drama that has captivated Richmond and the country for nearly two years.

For those who can’t make it to federal court, we’ll be live-blogging all the action here.

Let’s begin with the basics, and the question on everyone’s mind. Prosecutors want a sentence between 10 years and a month and 12 years and seven months. Defense attorneys want just 6,000 hours of community service. That is not a narrow gap. So what sentence is McDonnell most likely to get?

The starting point to answering that question lies in the federal sentencing guidelines — a setup of objective-ish parameters that U.S. probation officials are supposed to analyze to come up with an appropriate range of penalties for the former governor. The office’s calculations are very legal and technical. But for now, all you need to know is that the probation office has determined that the guidelines call for McDonnell to spend somewhere between 10 years and a month and 12 years and seven months in prison.

The range itself, though, is hardly a settled question. Prosecutors agree with the probation office’s math. But defense attorneys think that the range should have been two years and nine months to three years and five months.

Importantly, no matter what figures U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer ultimately determines to be the correct ones, he is not bound by them.

In determining what will be McDonnell’s punishment, Spencer must consider factors such as the former governor’s personal characteristics, the seriousness of his offense, what penalties others in similar cases have received and what might deter others from committing crimes like McDonnell’s in the future.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys disagree on virtually all of those matters. Where the defense sees a good and honest public servant, prosecutors see someone who should have known better. Where the defense sees routine political behavior being criminalized, prosecutors see obvious and serious public corruption. Where the defense sees a man who is remorseful and has suffered enough, prosecutors see a defendant blaming everyone but himself and who needs to face prison time to reinforce the message that what he did was wrong.

Both sides will argue all those questions and more today. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.