JURIST - Paper Chase: Libby should get up to 3-year prison sentence: prosecutor

[JURIST] A federal prosecutor said Friday that former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby should receive 2 1/2 to 3 years in prison for blocking the investigation into the Valerie Plame CIA leak case [JURIST news archives]. In papers filed with the US District Court for the District of Columbia Friday, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald [official website] wrote:

Particularly in a case such as this, where Mr. Libby was a high-ranking government official whose falsehoods were central to issues in a significant criminal investigation, it is important that this court impose a sentence that accurately reflects the value the judicial system places on truth-telling in criminal investigations.

Libby's lawyers are expected to request that Libby not receive any prison time or, if he does, that the sentence be suspended while he is appealing.

Libby was convicted by a federal jury of two counts of perjury, one count of lying to the FBI and one count of obstruction of justice. He was acquitted on one count of lying to the FBI. AP has more.