Nevada power broker sentenced for Reid campaign donations

RENO, Nev., Oct. 1 (UPI) -- A federal judge has sentenced a Nevada lawyer to two years in prison for making illegal campaign contributions to Sen. Harry Reid.

Harvey Whittemore, a Nevada lawyer, philanthropist and political power broker, was moved to tears during an emotional sentencing hearing Monday in U.S. District Court in Reno, Nev., when he begged Judge Larry Hicks for mercy.

Whittemore was convicted in May after a jury trial of two counts of making illegal campaign contributions and one count of forcing Reid's re-election campaign to file false campaign disclosure reports to the Federal Elections Commission. The jury deadlocked on a fourth count of lying to FBI investigators.

Prosecutors said Whittemore, 61, used friends and associates to make large donations to the Senate majority leader's campaign to skirt campaign contribution limits.

Dominic Gentile, Whittemore's lawyer, cited his client's long history of charitable acts in arguing for his client to avoid prison time but Hicks said the evidence was "unmistakable."

"No one is above the law," Hicks said. "The evidence is unmistakable. There simply must be a just punishment."

In addition to the prison term, Hicks fined Whittemore $100,000 and sentenced him to 100 hours of community service. Hicks said Whittemore has until Jan. 31 to report to federal prison -- enough time to wind down his law practice.

Gentile said he plans to file an appeal.