In April of 2009, a southern California sheriff beat a number of federal corruption charges, only to find himself still being treated harshly by the court on the one lone witness tampering conviction.  He was sentenced to 66 months in prison and ordered to pay a $125,000 fine within a year.  The judge said he gave the sentence to promote respect for the law, to be deterrence to others and to establish a just punishment.

Prosecutors claimed the sheriff used his office for personal financial gain, receiving unreported gifts in excess of California’s gift limits and encouraged associates to be untruthful to investigators. 

The sheriff’s wife called the sentence “devastating.”