ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 20, 1996 TAG: 9608200054
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LITTLE ROCK, ARK.
SOURCE: Associated Press
EQUATING PRISON TIME to a death sentence for the ailing Jim Guy Tucker, the judge ordered the Arkansawyer to serve 18 months of home detention.
Former Gov. Jim Guy Tucker was sentenced to four years probation Monday for his crimes by a judge who said he deserved mercy because of his chronic liver disease.
Also Monday, the sentencing of President Clinton's former business partner Jim McDougal was postponed until after Election Day amid word he is cooperating with Whitewater prosecutors.
Tucker faced up to 10 years in prison for fraud and conspiracy, and prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge George Howard Jr. to impose the maximum.
``This was a crime motivated by money. Motivated by the love of money,'' prosecutor Ray Jahn said.
But Howard agreed with doctors who testified that prison time could kill the former governor. Given Tucker's poor health, he said, ``A sentence requiring imprisonment would be as cruel as the grave.''
Tucker, 53, said his chronic liver condition - he is on a waiting list for a transplant - and his conviction left him suffering intense personal, professional, family and financial anguish.
Choking back tears three times in a five-minute speech asking for leniency, Tucker sought a sentence ``that would offer some prospect for my life to continue to be a useful one for society and for my family.''
Outside the courthouse, Tucker said he was innocent and would continue with appeals.
Howard ordered Tucker to start his probation with 18 months' home detention and also pay $150,000 in restitution, $120,000 in interest dating from the mid-1980s, and a $25,000 fine.
The judge also ordered the former governor to address 13 junior-and senior-high assemblies across the state and lecture about values, respect for authority and other topics.
``I won't criticize the judge,'' Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr said. ``He felt this was a contribution that Tucker could make.''
Earlier, Jahn asked the court to ``concoct a sentence assuring the public that the laws will be enforced equally,'' given that Tucker participated in a scheme to defraud two federally backed banks out of nearly $3 million.
Tucker, who resigned July 15 under threat of impeachment, still faces prosecution in a second indictment involving a 1987 cable television deal. The charges were brought by the Whitewater grand jury.
McDougal, meanwhile, faces up to 84 years in prison and $4.5 million in fines. He, his ex-wife, Susan, and Tucker were convicted in a Whitewater-related case May 28 of fraudulently obtaining and using federally backed loans.
Sources speaking on condition of anonymity said last week that McDougal, 55, has been cooperating with prosecutors for three weeks.
Starr wouldn't say whether McDougal is cooperating, only that the investigation is ``aggressively ongoing.''
In an Aug. 9 court order unsealed Monday, McDougal's sentencing was pushed back to Nov. 18, two weeks after the election.
No reason was given. But in the Whitewater investigation, prosecutors have put off the sentencing of individuals who agreed to cooperate. The prosecutors later recommended leniency if they thought the individual's cooperation justified it.
McDougal has refused to discuss his reason for giving up his pledge not to cooperate. But during his trial, he asked the jury to hold him responsible for anything his ex-wife might have done.
Susan McDougal, 42, awaits sentencing today. She faces 17 years and $1 million in fines for fraud and other offenses.
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